PROCEEDINGS 


#36- 


OF  THE 


FIFTH  ANNUAL  SESSION 


UC-NRLF 


OF  THE 


71    EMI 


L 


AT  PHILADELPHIA,  PA., 


September  12th,  13th  and  14th,  1876. 


THE  TEST  OF  NATIONAL  WELFARE  is  THE  INTELLIGENCE  AND  PROSPERITY  OF  THE  FARMER." 

-GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS 


CHICAGO, 
PRAIRIE  FARMER  COMPANY,  PRINTERS. 

1877. 


GIFT  ©F 


PROCEEDINGS 


Oi-   THE 


FIFTH  ANNUAL  SESSION 


OF  THUS 


AT  PHILADELPHIA,  PA., 


September  12th,  13th  and  14th,  1876. 


"THE  TEST  OF  NATIONAL  WELFARE  is  THE  INTELLIGENCE  AND  PROSPERITY  OP  THE  FAKMER.  " 

— GEOROE  WILLIAM  CURTIS. 


CHICAGO, 
PRAIRIE  FARMER  COMPANY,  PRINTERS, 

1877. 


s&a 


Gift 

OFFICERS  1876-7. 


PRESIDENT. 

WILL.ABD  C.  FLAGG,  MORO,  ILLINOIS. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS- 


ALABAMA 

ARIZONA 

ARKANSAS.... 

CALIFOkNIA. 

COLORADO... 

CONN 

DAKOTA 

DELAWARE... 
DIST.  COL.... 
FLORIDA... 
GEORGIA... 

IDAHO 

ILLINOIS 

INDIANA 

INDIAN  TER.. 

IOWA 

KANSAS , 

KENTUCKY... 
LOUISIANA... 

MAINE 

MARYLAND..  . 

MASS 

MICHIGAN 

MINNESOTA . . 


. .  J.  T.  TICHENOR Auburn. 

..WARREN  FOOTE.  ...St.  Thomas. 

..S.  COCKRLLL Little  Rock. 

..J.  M.  HAMILTON. . .  .Gueuoc. 

..N.  C.  MEEKER Greeley. 

.  .T.  S.  GOLD West  Cornwall. 

.E.B.  CREW Lodi. 

..BDW.  TATNALL.... Wilmington. 

.  J.  R.  DODGE Washington. 

..B.  F.  WARDLAW.... Madison. 

.  .THOS.  P.  JANES Atlanta. 

..J.W.BENNETT Boise  City- 

..M.B.LLOYD 

.J.  Q.A.  NEWSOM. 

.W.P.  ROSS... 


..A.S.WELCH.... 
..ALFRED  GRAY. 
..W.J.DAVIE.... 

.&.B.IRION 

..S.  L.  GOOD  ALE 
..W.B.  SANDS.... 
..L.  STOCKBRIDGE. ..Amherst. 

.  T.  C.  ABBOT Lansing. 

..JOHN  H.  STEVENS. Minneapoli 


..Orion. 

..Elizabethtown. 
.  .Muskogee. 
. .  Ames. 
..  Topeka. 
..Frankf  >rt. 
..Marksville. 
...Saco. 
..Btltimore. 


MISSISSIPPI . . . . J.  O.  WHARTON 

MISSOURI J.  S.  MARMADUKE. . 

MONTANA BRIGHAM  REED 

NEBRASKA J.  S.  MORTON 

NEVADA L.  R.  BK  AD  LEY 

N.  HAMPSHIRE. DUDLEY  J.  CHASE... 

NEW  JERSEY... .GEO.  H.  COOK 

N  EW  MEXICO. . .  THOS.  J.  BUEL 

NEW  YORK X.  A.W1LLAKD..  . 

N.  CAROLINA.. .KEMP P. BATTLES... 

OHIO JOHN  H.  KLIPPART. 

OBEGON ANDREW  J.  DUFPR. 

PENN A.  L.  KENNEDY 

RHODE  ISLAND..GEO.  E.  WARING,  JR, 

S. CAROLINA.  . .  .R.  C,  F.  BAKER 

TENNESSEE THOS.  CL AIRBORNE, 

TEXAS WM.  WATSON 

UTAH J.E.JOHNSON 

VERMONT E.  D.  MASON 

VIRGINIA W.P.  BURWELL 

WASHINGTON  .  .PHILIP  RITZ 

W.VIBGINIA....THOS.MASLIN 

WISCONSIN W.  W.  FIE LD 

WYOMING J.  A.  CAMPBELL 


..Terry . 

..St.Loui8.| 

.Bozeman. 

.Nebraska] 

.Cars on  Ci 

.Claremonr 

.N.  Bruas 

.Mesilla. 

.Llttlrt  Fs 

.Raleigh. 

.Columbus 

.Portland. 

.Philadelpl 

.Newport. 

.Nashville,  j 
.Brenham. 
.St.  George 
.Richmond. 
.Richmoi 
.  Walla  Wi 
.Mooreflel 
.Madison. 
.Cheyenne.  I 


SECRETARY. 

HORACE  J.  SMITH,  PHI,  ADELPHIA,  PA. 

TREASURER. 

EZRA  WHITMAN,  BALTIMORE,  MD. 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

W.  C.  FLAGG,  HORACE  J.  SMITH.  EZRA  WHITMAN. 


STANDING  COMMITTEES,  Etc. 

For  the  purpose  of  acting  as  Standing  Committees,  and  as  President,  Vice  President  and  Secretary 
of  Sections  or  Departments,  whenever  necessary,  the  following  gentlemen  are  requested  to  serve 
during  the  coming  year  and  at  the  next  meeting.  These  committees  will  please  bring  before  the 
Congress  any  matter  that  they  may  deem  important,  and  to  them  will  be  referred  such  business  as 
the  Congress  may  deem  appropriate. 

AGRICULTURAL  CHEMISTRY. 

PROF.  L^JVI  STOCKBRIDGE,  Amherst,  Mass.,  PROF.  S.  W.  JOHNSON,  New  Haven,  Conn., 

PROF.  B.  W.  HILGARD,  Berkeley,  Cal. 

AGRICULTURAL  METEOROLOGY. 

PROP.  J.  B.  TURNER,  Jacksonville,  II'.,  CAPT.  GARRICK  MALLERY.  Washington,  D.  C., 

PROF,  JOHN  H.  TICB,  St.  LouiP,  Mo. 

AGRICULTURAL  STATISTICS. 

R.  DOD  GE,  Washington,  D.  C..  T.  P.  JANES,  Atlanta.  Ga,,  ALFRED  GRAY,  Topeka,  Kansas 

AGRICULTURAL  ENTOMOLOGY. 

PROF.  C.  V.  RILEY,  St.  Louis  Mo.,  PROF.  CYRUS  THOMAS,  Carbondale,  111. 

A.  S.  PACKARD,  Salem.  Mas-. 

FIELD  CULTURE. 

PROF.  I.  P.  ROBERTS,  Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  PROP.  JOHN  HAMILTON,  Agricultural  College,  Pa,, 

PROF.  N.  S.  TOWNSHEND,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

FORESTRY. 

BURNET  LANDRETH,  Philadelphia.  Pa.,  DE.  JOHN  A.  WARDER,  Cincinnati,  O., 

PROP.  H.  H.  McAFEB,  Freeport,  III. 

DOMESTIC  ANIMALS. 

LEWIS  F.  ALLBN,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  COL.  THUS.  CLAIRBORNE,  Nashville,  Tenn., 

J.  H.  PICKRELL,  Harristown,  111. 

RURAL  ECONOMY  AND  LEGISLATION. 

HON.  W.  W.  FIELD,  Mad'son,  Wis.,  COL.  EDWARD  DANIELS,  Accotink,  Va., 

DR.  A.  L.  KENNEDY,  Philadelph  a,  PA. 

AGRICULTURAL  EDUCATION. 

PRE8.  J.  T.  TICK  ENOR,  Auburn,  Ala.,       PRES  A.  S.WELCH,  Ames,  la.,       PRE8.T.  C.  ABBOT,  Lansing,  Mich. 


SPECIAL  COMMITTEE. 

UNIFORMITY  OF  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 


DR.  A.  L.  KENNEDY,  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
A.  G.  HUMPHREYS,  Galesburg,  111., 
MOSES  HUMPH  >EY,  Concord,  N    H.. 
^ROF.  J.  T.  TICHENOK,  Auburn,  Ala., 

-•R-IF.  G.  W.  JONES,  Des  Moioes,  Iowa, 
MOSES  CLARK,  Newa  k,  N.  J., 
N.  C.  MEEKER,  Greel<-y,  Colorado, 
W.  J.  DAV1B,  Frankfort,  Ky., 
PROF.  I.  M.  ROBERTS,  Itha-a,  N.  Y. 
W.  D.  SANDS,  Baltimore,  Md.t 


T.  S.  GOLF),  West  Cornwall,  Conn., 
LEVI  STOCKBRIDGE,  Amh  rst,  Mass., 
J.  A.  WARDER,  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
DR.  J.  E.  8NODGKASS,  Washington,  D.  C. 
W.  ELLIOTT,  Farmington,  Minn., 

A.  J.  DUFtTR,  Portland,  Oregon, 

B.  A.  MARTIN,  Dahlonega,  Georg'a, 

C.  V.  RILTCY,  St.  Louie,  Mo., 

J.B  KILLEBREW,  Nashville,  Tenn., 
W.  W.  FIELD,  Madison,  Wis. 


Members  who  paid  their  dues  for  the  year  at  Philadelphia. 


LEWIS  F.  ALLEN,  Buffalo,  N.  Y., 
THOMAS  CLAIRBORNE,  Nashville,  Tent)., 
W.  J.  DAVIB,  Frankfort,  Kentucky, 
A.  B.  DAVIS,  Brookville,  Maryland, 
ANDRE  W  J.  DUFUR,  Portland,  Oregon, 
H.  M.ENGLE,  Marietta,  Pennsylvania, 
W.  C.  FLAGG,  Moro,  Illinois, 
JOHN  H.  GARDINER,  Rio  Vista,  California, 

A.  J.  GRAVES,  Amps,  I  jwa, 

B.  L.  F.  HARDC  ASTLE,  Eiston,  Maryland, 
JOSEPH  HARRIS,  Rochester,  New  York, 
A.  G  HUMPHREY,  Galesburg,  Illinois, 
THOS.  P.  JANES,  Atlanta,  Georgia, 

A.  L.  KENNEDY,  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania, 
ISRAEL  L.  LANDIS,  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania, 
M.  B.  LLOYD,  Orion,  Illinois, 


H.  H.  McAFBB.  Freeport,  Illinois, 

B.  A.  MARTI*;  Daklonega,  Georgia, 
GBO.  A.  MARTIN,  Buffalo,  New  York, 
GEO.  W.  MINIKR,  Minier,  Illinois, 
GEO.  B.  MORROW,  Champa'gn,  Illinois, 

C.  V.  RILBY,  Sr,.  L  >ms,  Miseouri, 
I.  P.  RO HERTS,  Ithaca,  New  York, 
T.  T.  SMITH,  St.  Paul,  Minnesota, 

J.  E.  8NODGRASS,  Washington,  D.  C., 
J.  T.  TICHENOK,  Auburn,  Alabama, 
*r.  S.  TOWNSHEND,  Columbus,  Ohio, 
L.  L.  WATERS,  Princess  Anne,  Maryland, 

A.  S.  W  ELCH,  Am°s,  Iowa, 

B.  WHITMAN,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

X.  A.  WILL  \KD,  Little  Falls,  New  York, 
L.|,B.  WILLIAMS,  Montrose,  Iowa. 


544 169 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH   OF   NATIONAL   AGRI- 
CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS. 


By  W.  C.  FLAGG. 


The  earliest  attempts  at  forming  an  Agricult- 
ural Organization,  really  national  in  its  scope,  I 
think,  was  the  result  of  the  efforts  of  Solon 
Robinson,  afterwards,  well  known  as  the  agri- 
cultural editor  of  the  New  York  Tribune.  The 
meeting  was  held  at  Washington,  in  Sept.  1841' 
and  accounts  of  that  and  subsequent  meetings, 
may  be  found  in  the  old  Albany  Cultivator,  now 
the  Country  Gentleman,  in  the  Union  Agricult- 
urist, now  THE  PRAIRIE  FARMER,  and  probably 
in  other  papers.  It  met  again  in  December,  and 
then  in  the  following  year  at  Washington,  and 
then  seems  to  have  become  extinct.  This  or- 
ganization was  known  as  the  Agricultural  So- 
ciety of  The  United  States.  James  M.  Garnett, 
of  Virginia,  was  its  President.  John  S.  Skinm-r, 
ii  s  Corresponding  Secretary,  John  F.  Callan,  its 
Recording  Secretary,  and  Edward  Dyer,  its 
Treasurer  at  the  December  election,  and  the 
same  with  the  substitution  of  Elisha  Whittlesey 
for  John  S.  Skinner,  were  chosen  the  following 
May. 

The  United  States  Agricultural  Society  was 
organized  in  June  1852,  by  152  delegates  from  23 
states  and  territories.  This  society  continued 
in  existence  until  the  war.  It  held  several  large 
fairs  and  field  trials,  and  through  meetings  and 
publications,  did  much  to  promote  the  art  of  ag- 
riculture. Marshall  P.  Wilder,  Ben.  F.  French, 
Ben.  Perley  Poore,  and  others,  appear  among  its 
prominent  members. 


The  National  Agricultural  Congress- 
The  National  Agricultural  Congress,  an  ac- 
count of  whose  fifth  annual  meeting  is  here- 
with given,  may  be  traced  to  the  year  1870,  when 
"  at  the  suggestion  and  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Cotton  States  Agricultural  and  Mechanical 
Association,  the  Agusta  Board  of  Trade,  and 


the  Municipal  Government  of  Augusta,"  dele- 
gates from  11  states  and  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, convened  at  Augusta,  Georgia,  and  organ- 
ized "The  Agricultural  Congress,"  whose  ob- 
jects were  declared  to  be  "  the  advancement  of 
Agriculture,  and  the  Arts  of  Husbandry."  Hon. 
H.  V.  Johnson,  of  Georgia,  was  chosen  Presi- 
dent. Gen.  A.  R.  Wright,  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, L.  Comington,  Secretary,  and  J.  J.  Cohen, 
Treasurer,  all  of  Georgia,  with  a  vice  president 
for  each  of  the  eleven  states  represented,  and 
numerous  standing  committees  on  cotton, 
wheat,  corn,  labor  and  immigration,  entomolo- 
gy, &c.,  &c.  No  formal  addresses  or  business, 
beyond  organization,  appear  to  have  been 
transacted,  and  the  congress  adjourned  to  com- 
plete its  organization  &c.,  at  Selma,  Alabama, 
in  December  1871. 

Meanwhile,  under  the  auspices  of  the  "  Ten- 
nessee Agricultural  and  Mechanic  Association," 
a  similar  gathering  "  composed  of  delegates 
from  11  states,  representing  more  that  40  differ- 
ent Agricultural  Societies  and  Associations." 
was  held  at  Nashville,  Oct.  3d-5th,  1871.  This 
body  organized  the  "  National  Agricultural  As- 
sociation." The  preamble  recites  as  reasons  for 
organizing :  "  To  extend  the  usefulness  of  the 
various  associations  and  societies,  organized  for 
the  purpose  of  promoting  the  interests  of  agri- 
culture in  the  United  States,  and  in  order  to 
create  unity  and  harmony,  as  well  as  concert  of 
action,  in  reference  to  those  measures  calculat- 
ed to  increase  the  efficiency  of  this,  the  most  im- 
portant of  our  national  pursuits;  and  especially 
secure  the  proper  consideration  of  questions, 
pertaining  to  the  industrial  and  commercial  in- 
terest?, of  this  large  and  productive  class  of  our 
people."  F.  Julius  Le  Moyne,  of  Pennsylvania, 
was  chosen  President,  with  a  Vice-President 


from  each  of  ten  states,  and  J.  B.  Killebrew,  as 
Secretary,  and  F.  H.  French  as  Treasurer.  Both 
of  the  latter  were  from  Tennessee.  The  meeting 
was  spent  in  organizing,  and  adjourned  to  meet 
at  St.  Louis,  in  May,  1873,  having  first  appointed 
a  committee  to  attend  the  meeting  at  Slema, 
and  to  propose  a  consolidation  of  the  two  or- 
ganizations. 

In  October  the  Agricultural  Congress  met  at 
Selma.  The  attendance  was  not  so  large  as  at 
the  previous  meeting.  R.  J.  Spurr,  of  Kentucky, 
was  elected  President,  and  Charles  W.  Greene, 
of  Tennessee,  Secretary.  The  proposition  for  a 
union  of  the  two  organizations  was  favorably 
received  and  the  Congress  adjourned  to  meet  at 
St.  Louis. 

May  27, 1872,  the  two  societies  met  at  St.  Louis 
and  continued  in  session  four  days.  The  two  or- 
ganizations were  made  one  under  the  name  of 
the  "National  Agricultural  Congress."  Some 
17  states  were  represented.  Addresses,  some  of 
them  of  great  interest,  were  delivered  by  Maj. 
T.  W.  Woodward,  on  the  Influence  of  Forests  on 
Rainfall ;  by  Com.  M.  F.  Maury,  on  Science— Its 
Applicability  to  Agriculture;  by  Prof.  J.  B. 
Turner,  on  Education  of  American  Farmers  ;  by 
H.  N.  McAllister,  on  the  proper  Spheres,  Objects 
and  Duties  of  Agricultural  Colleges  in  the  Uni- 
ted States,  &c.  John  P.  Reynolds,  of  Illinois, 
was  elected  President.  Vice  Presidents  were 
chosen  from  40  states  and  territories.  Charles 
W.  Greene,  of  Tennessee,  was  made  Secretary, 
and  Lee  R.  Shyrock,  of  Missouri,  Treasurer. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  National  Agricult- 
ural Congress,  or  the  fourth  counting  from  the 
original  meeting,  was  held  at  Indianapolis,  May 
26-30, 1873.  No  set  addresses  were  made.  Twenty 
or  more  states  and  territories  were  represented. 
The  Congress  was  welcomed  by  Gov.  Hendricks 
and  the  Mayor  of  the  city.  The  topics  of  Trans- 


portation, Agricultural  Colleges,  &c.,  were  dis- 
cussed and  made  the  subjects  of  formal  reports 
and  resolutions.  Gen.  Wm.  H.  Jackson,  of  Ten- 
nessee, was  elected  President,  and  Charles  W. 
Greene,  then  of  Tennessee,  but  subsequently  of 
Illinois,  and  now  of  Indiana,  was  re-elected  Sec- 
retary. 

The  third,  or  fifth  meeting  was  held  at  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  May  13-15, 1874.  Some  ten  states  were 
represented.  Addresses  were  made,  or  papers 
forwarded,  by  the  President ;  by  J.  R.  Dodge,  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  ;  by  Pres.  A.  D. 
White,  of  Cornell  University  ;  by  J.  B.  Killebrew, 
of  the  Tennessee  Board  of  Agriculture  ;  by  W. 
C.  Flagg,  of  Illinois  ;  John  A.  Warder,  of  Ohio, 
and  others.  President  Jackson  was  re-elected 
President,  and  George  E.  Morrow,  of  Wisconsin, 
Secretary. 

The  fourth,  or  sixth,  session  was  held  at  Cin- 
cinnati, Sept.  22-24, 1875.  Only  five  or  six  states 
were  represented  and  the  members  were  mostly 
new.  Addresses  were  delivered  by  J.  B.  Kille- 
brew, of  Tennessee,  Dr.  J.  M.  Gregory  and  W.  C. 
Flagg,  of  Illinois,  and  papers  were  submitted  by 
Col.  Edward  Daniels,  of  Virginia,  and  others. 
W.  C.  Flagg,  of  Illinois,  was  elected  President, 
and  George  E.  Morrow,  re-elected  Secretary. 

This  brings  us  to  the  date  of  the  meeting 
whose  proceedings  are  given  herewith,  which 
is  the  fifth  of  the  consolidated  societies  or  the 
seventh  dating  from  the  Augusta  meeting. 

The  Augusta  meeting's  proceedings  were  pub- 
lished in  a  pamphlet  of  21  pages ;  those  of  the 
Nashville  meeting  in  a  pamphlet  of  26  pages ; 
those  of  the  St.  Louis  meeting  in  a  pamphlet  of 
84  pages ;  those  of  the  Indianapolis  meeting  in 
the  Farmers'  Advocate,  of  Jackson,  Tenn.;  those 
of  the  Atlanta  meeting  in  the  Rural  Sun,  of 
Nashville,  Tenn.;  and  those  of  the  Cincinnati 
meeting,  in  the  Cincinnati  dailies  of  that  date. 


PROCEEDINGS. 

JUDGES'  HALL,  INTERNATIONAL 

EXHIBITION  Q  BOUNDS,  PHILADELPHIA, 

September  12th,  1876. 

The  National  Agricultural  Congress  was 
called  to  order  by  the  President  at  3  P.  M., 
and  was  opened  with  prayer  by  the  Rev.  G. 
W.  Minier,  of  Illinois. 

The  order  of  business  proposed  by  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  was  read  by  the  Secretary 
and  approved  by  the  Congress. 

Addresses  of  Welcome. 

Dr.  Alfred  L.  Kennedy,  President  of  the 
Polytechnic  College  of  Pennsylvania,  then 
addressed  the  Congress  as  follows: 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  National 
Agricultural  Congress:— It  would  have  been  a 
source  of  great  gratification  to  us  all,  had  the 
President  of  our  old  Agricultural  Society  greeted 
you  to-day.  But  he  is  absent  by  reason  of  sick- 
ness and  the  duty  has  devolved  on  myself:— 
an  humble  member.  I  reed  hardly  assure  you 
that  the  duty  is  a  pleasing  one.  Would  that  1 
were  able  to  do  it  justice ! 

In  this  year  of  American  jubilee,  the  present 
and  the  past  embrace  each  other.  The  old  an 
the  new  kiss  one  another.  On  this  spot,  conse- 
crated to  the  brotherhood  of  nations  and  the  re- 
union of  the  American  people,  the  Philadelphia 
Society  for  Promoting  Agriculture,  now  in  its 
eighty-second  year,  welcomes  the  National  Ag- 
ricultural Congress,  just  four  years  old. 

The  two  centuries  meet.  They  meet  and  show 
how  similar  were  the  aims  of  our  fathers  to  those 
which  animate  us. 

Tho  Philadelphia  Society  for  Promoting  Agri- 
culture was  organized  when  Philadelphia  was 
the  Federal  Capital.  The  founders  of  the  society 
apprehended  na  restriction  to  the  field  of  its  op- 
erations. These  were  to  be  as  wide-spread  as  the 
Union.  It  was,  therefore,  national  in  its  objects 
and  its  membership  embraced  the  leading  agri- 
culturists of  the  new  Union,  who  came  hither  to 
the  seat  of  government.  Did  time  permit,  it 
would  be  a  filial  duty  to  trace  the  history  of  the 
society,  learn  how,  having  created  and  defended 
a  nation,  our  fathers'  next  care  was  to  promote 
that  industry  upon  which  our  national  prosperi- 
ty essentially  depends. 

The  removal  of  the  capital  to  the  District  of 
Columbia,  lost  to  the  society  her  national  char- 
acter. From  her,  numbers  who  learned  within 
her  halls  the  value  of  organization,  have  gone  to 
the  several  states ;  have  built  up  there  state  and 
county  societies,  and  she  stands  to-day,  hemmed 
In  it  may  be,  but  hemmed  in  by  her  own  children 
who  have  settled  round  her. 

Recognizing  your  objects  and  those  of  our 
founders  as  almost  identical,  we  hail  your  pres- 
ence and  anticipate  its  results  with  profound 
gratification.  For  agriculture  greatly  needs  to 


be  promoted,  and  as  a  means  to  its  promotion,  to 
be  better  appreciated.  To  secure  this  wished-for 
consummation  a  national  agricultural  associa- 
tion is  the  most  effective.  Let  us  look  a  little  at 
the  estimate  placed  on  our  art.  "Agriculture  is 
the  noblest  employment  of  man."  Our  children 
write  th*s  truth  in  their  school  exercises,  and  the 
politician  who  solicits  our  votes  shouts  it  trom 
the  stump.  But  is  it  generally  believed?  If  it 
were,  if  it  were,  I  say,  regarded  as  true  that  the 
practice  of  the  art  of  the  farmer  is  ennobling, 
then  the  intelligent  and  benevolent  gentlemen 
who  direct  our  reformatories  would  feel  them- 
selves constrained  to  provide  that  labor  for  their 
inmates.  But  even  in  Philadelphia— I  say  it  with 
shame  of  the  city  of  my  birth— in  our  House  of 
Refuge— our  house  of  reformation  for  juvenile 
off enders— they  are  employed  in  mechanical  pur- 
suits adapted  rather  to  a  state  penitentiary,  in- 
stead of  being  put  at  the  reformatory  labor  of 
the  field.  We  welcome  you  gentlemen  because 
we  hope  that  you  will  enjoin  upon  the  directors 
of  the  reformatories  of  the  country  the  wisdom 
and  propriety  of  so  locating  those  institutions 
that  agriculture  may  be  utilized  as  a  means  of 
reform. 

When  the  London  "Punch"  delineates  the  typ- 
ical American— and  Mr.  Punch  is  a  pretty  correct 
delineator  of  sovereigns—  he  represents  him  as 
tall,  lean  and  lank. 

Now,  to  correct  these  physical  defects  in  the 
genus  homo  is  of  course  an  easy  task  to  that  vo- 
cation which  has  transformed  the  original  wild 
stock  of  the  bovine  race  into  the  beautiful  sym- 
metry of  the  Devons  and  Durhams. 

But  the  typical  American  is  not  only  too 
"wiry."  He  is  too  nervous  and  too  impulsive. 
Can  rural  pursuits  cure  him?  Most  assuredly. 
The  feverish  life  of  cities,  relieved  only  by  a 
feverish  rush  to  a  fashionable  watering  place 
after  his  wife  and  daughters,  entail  bodily  ills 
and  mental  woes  upon  him.  He  needs  salubrious 
air  much.  The  sweet  serenity  of  rural  scenes 
more. 

Sound  minds  in  sound  bodies  must  constitute 
the  foundation  of  the  American  race,  if  it  is  to 
maintain  its  proud  claim  to  be  the  "coming 
race,"  and  to  this  end  more  of  our  business  men 
and  our  men  of  wealth  must  live  on  farms. 

The  railroads  have  given  us  quick  transit. 
When  Richard  Peters,  a  former  president  of  our 
society,  whose  farm  lay  just  beyond  Agricultural 
Hal),  had  crossed  Market  street  bridge  on  his 
drive  home,  he  was  longer  in  reaching  it  than 
you,  Mr.  President,  would  be  now,  starting  from 
the  bridge  by  the  cars  of  the  Pennsylvania  rail- 
road in  reaching  Bryn  Mawr  or  Rosemont  or 
Pooli  or  farming  districts  miles  away.  By  the 
Reading  railroad,  a  student  of  the  college  with 
which  I  am  connected  came  daily  during  the  last 
term,  sixty  miles  to  lectures,  returning  in  the 
afternoon.  The  journey  of  120  miles  didn't  hurt 
him.  He  led  his  class.  Why  do  not  business 
men  more  generally  avail  themselves  of  these 


facilities?  For  two  reasons.  1.  They  dojnot  appre- 
ciate the  advantages  of  a  country  life  to  them- 
selves and  their  posterity.  2.  The  relation  which 
they  establish  between  themselves  and  their 
tenant  farmers  is  not  what  it  should  be.  It  is 
known  as  "farming  on  shares,"  andisprofesedly 
arranged  upon  the  principle  of  co-operative  in- 
dustry, which  in  agriculture,  as  everywhere 
else,  is  based  upon  the  fact  of  human  fraternity. 
But  that  principle  may  be  abused,  and  as  applied 
in  our  present  system  of  tenant  farming,  it  is  too 
frequently  abused.  We  claim  too  much  of  our 
tenant  farmer  when  we  claim  an  equal  share  of 
everything  he  produces.  We  are  like  that  school 
of  political  philosophers  who  would  put  a  tariff 
on  everything  imported,  instead  of  upon  half  a 
dozen  specified  articles  of  import.  The  nation 
suffers  because  it  heeds  these  foolish  philoso- 
phers, and  we  suffer  from  our  foolish  farm  leases. 
We  welcome  you  gentlemen,  because  we  believe 
that  a  National  Agricultural  Congress  can  effect 
a  reform  in  the  terms  of  these  contracts. 

Hither  to  these  beautiful  grounds  the  Ameri- 
can people  come,  from  the  North  and  the  South, 
to  shake  hands  "all  round,"  and  thank  God  that 
negro  slavery— that  one  accursed  thing  which 
threatened  to  divide  our  nation— has  gone  for- 
ever. But  with  it  went  the  class  of  planters, 
who,  although  they  advocated  a  system  of  social 
disposition,  were  at  Washington  the  stern  and 
eloquent  champions  of  political  liberty,  and  con- 
stituted the  great  agricultural  equipoise  in  our 
national  councils.  Unfortunately— taking  ad- 
vantage of  our  conflict— British  capitalists— to 
say  nothing  of  their  government— seized  the  op- 
portunity to  cripple  and  destroy  our  merchant 
marine.  Commerce  lost  enormously  in  property. 
She  lost  also  the  prestige  which  ever  on  a  repub- 
lic like  ours  rightly  belongs  to  her.  The  field 
was  thus  left  open  to  the  third  and  remaining 
branch  of  industry,  manufactures,  and  well  did 
her  teeming  millions  seek  to  improve  the  occa- 
sion. By  combinations  which  covered  the  land, 
they  controlled  national  legislation.  With  what 
result  let  the  prostrate  energies  of  a  great  peo- 
ple attest.  We  welcome  you  gentlemen,  because 
we  hope  through  you  to  see  now,  with  "  Liberty 
throughout  the  land,"  the  agricultural  equipoise 
at  least  in  some  degree  restored  in  our  national 
councils.  We  need— how  greatly  we  need— an 
active,  refined  body  of  farmers,  wielding  an  in- 
fluence that  shall  make  itself  felt  in  the  Capitol 
and  at  the  White  House.  The  reconstruction  of 
the  nation  will  not  be  complete  until  agriculture 
and  commerce  shall  be  restored  to  an  equal  place 
and  influence  with  their  twin  sister,  manufact- 
ures, when  the  Union  will  march  forward  in  tri- 
une harmony.  As  a  means  to  this  great  end  we 
must  win  to  our  art  the  retired  capitalist,  the 
man  of  active  business,  and  him  of  elegant  leis- 
ure, winning  them  by  presenting  the  peculiar 
charm  of  our  vocation.  A  vocation  which  sur- 
rounds us  with  the  beautiful  in  nature,  and  con- 
tinually invites  us  to  the  interpretation  of  her 


mysteries.  A  vocation  in  which  we  seek  to  con- 
trol the  refined  chemistry  of  the  gases,  to  draw 
them  from  the  atmosphere,  and  to  transform 
them  into  new  combinations  for  human  susten- 
ance. A  vocation  in  which  we  seek  to  control 
the  more  subtle  agencies  of  vitality  and  so  to  di- 
rect the  forces  of  animal  and  vegetable  life  that 
they  may  produce  "some  40,  some  60,  some  IOC 
fold."  We  seek  to  deal  with  the  undecomposa- 
ble  elements  of  matter,  to  compound  them  into 
sources  of  fertility  and  cover  the  earth  with 
verdure.  We  find  in  our  work,  day  by  day,  new 
proofs  of  a  beneficient  Providence  and  of  our 
dependence  on  His  bounty.  "  Paul  may  plant, 
and  Apolles  water,  but  God  giveth  the  increase." 

And  now,  gentlemen  of  the  National  Agricult- 
ural Congress,  I  extend  to  your  president  the 
right  hard  of  agricultural  fellowship  and  again 
welcome  you  to  Philadelphia. 

Captain  Burnet  Landreth,  Chief  of  the 
Bureau  of  Agriculture,  of  the  International 
Exhibition  then  delivered  the  following  ad- 
dress : 

Mr.  President  and  CknUenwn  of  the  National 
Agricultural  Congress.— It  has  been  intimated  to 
me  that  it  may  be  proper  to  offer  a  few  remarks 
pertaining  to  the  great  interests  of  agriculture, 
in  which  most,  now  assembled,  it  is  presumed, 
are  directly  concerned.  I  recognize  the  duty  of 
each  of  us  to  do  what  within  him  lies  to  ad- 
vance the  general  good,  and  in  the  special  mat- 
ter of  Agriculture  the  rule  is  with  me  impera- 
tive,—else  I  should  hesitate  on  this  occasion  in 
the  presence  of  those  at  whose  feet  I  might  seek 
instruction. 

The  arrival  of  this  grand  Centennial  epoch, 
with  its  memories  of  the  past,  its  pride  in  the 
present,  and  its  hopes  of  the  future  has  warmed 
our  blood,  and  led  to  increased  fellowship  be- 
tween men  of  all  sections,  and  all  interests,  and 
finds  vent  in  expressions  of  admiration  at  their 
works.  Indeed,  it  is  only  necessary  to  witness 
the  gratification  evident  in  every  eye  to  realize 
the  fact,  that  good  results  will  endure  long  after 
we,  who  are  now  assembled  on  these  Interna- 
tional Exhibition  Grounds,  shall  have  returned 
to  our  respective  homes,  and  that  our  children 
whom  we  have  brought  hither  to  partake  with 
us  of  present,  enjoyment  and  gratification  will 
relate  to  their  children  in  another  generation 
the  glories  of  this  day. 

Happy  shall  we  be  as  a  nation,  as  a  people 
united  by  geographical  bonds,  by  a  common 
kindred,  and  a  common  interest,  if  we  recognize 
in  its  full  extent  the  moral  as  well  as  the  materi- 
al force  of  the  great  centennial  occasion,  which 
has  brought  together,  face  to  face,  for  the  first 
time,  the  myriads  which  no  other  opportunity 
has  afforded,  and  which,  it  is  very  certain  can 
never  occur  again  to  them. 

But  to  go  back  to  agriculture— the  interest 
which  most  immediately  and  directly  concerns 
us  in  this  exposition.  How  much  we  have  to 


be  proud  of— how  much  is  collected  together,  In 
the  ample  structure  devoted  to  it,  calculated  to 
quicken  the.flow  of  blood  within  us— just  as  in 
an  inverse  -ratio  the  labor-saving  machinery 
therein  has  lessened  the  unhealthy  flow  and  con- 
sequent exhaustion  in  the  harvest  field,  and 
elsewhere  on  the  farm.  A  retrospective  glance 
at  the  progress  of  the  last  half -century  (lam 
not  abte  to  extend  my  personal  vision  so  far, 
but  gain  the  facts  at  second  hand )  reveals  pro- 
cesses and  progress,  which  all  ages,  all  preceding 
time  has  failed  to  equal.  One  single  era  of  fifty 
years  has  done  all  that.  If  it  be  a  passing 
question  in  the  mind  of  any  one  who  hears  me, 
whether  the  language  used  be  not  too  strong, 
it  were  only  necessary  to  convince  him  it  is 
within  bounds,  to  have  witnessed  the  recent 
trial  of  mowers  and  reapers  held  under  the  au- 
spices of  the  Centennial  Commission— more 
especially  the  reapers.  Let  me  ask  those  who 
are  old  enough  to  go  back  to  the  days  of  the 
sickle,  when  handful  by  handful  the  grain  was 
grasped,  cut  and  laid  down  with  careful  preci- 
sion lest  a  straw  should  be  misplaced— or  even 
later  in  the  order  of  mechanical  succession  which 
followed  the  grain  cradle,  an  American  inven- 
tion and  invaluable  improvement  on  the  sickle, 
which,  indeed,  in  the  opinion  of  farmers  still 
living,  left  no  room  for  further  progress  in  that 
direction.  The  acme  of  perfection  has  been 
reached !  Not  so,  thought  the  ingenious  mechan- 
ical minds  of  our  countrymen.  All  hail  J  to 
those  who  have  so  far  succeeded  in  the  great 
field  of  invention  and  made  it  yield  golden  fruit 
for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  human  family. 
Step  by  step  were  advances  made;  each  suc- 
cessive harvest  told  practically  of  the  improve- 
ments on  old  inventions  and  ideas,  or  exhibited 
new  principles  evolved,  elaborated,  and  turned 
to  the  advantage  of  mankind. 

It  has  truly  been  said  that  he  who  makes  two 
blades  of  grass  grow  where  only  one  grew  pre- 
viously, is  a  public  benefactor  ;  so  it  may  be 
•aid  with  equal  force  that  he  who  enables  us  to 
gather  them  with  the  least  expenditure  of  sweat 
and  toil  is  his  equal  in  that  direction,  and  the 
meed  of  praise  should  be  awarded  him  with  no 
Stinted  hand.  Indeed  I  make  no  doubt  that 
future  generations  will  erect  statues  of  endur- 
ing bronze  and  marble  to  those  who  have  so 
benefited  the  world  at  large.  I  may  appear 
enthusiastic  on  this  subject,  but  as  I  have  no 
private  purpose  to  subserve,  it  may  be  allow- 
able thus  to  give  vent  to  feelings  engendered  by 
the  recent  trials  on  the  Centennial  grounds  on 
the  banks  of  the  Neshamony.  It  was  only  the 
other  day  when  the  reaper  cast  the  grain  upon 
the  platf  orm,and  an  intelligent  aid,  the  workman 
walking  behind,  or  uncomfortably  seated,  was 
necessary  to  remove  it.  In  a  little  while  the 
Belf-raker  came  to  relieve  him  and  permit  his 
labor  to  be  directed  in  a  more  profitable  sphere 
.-one  more  hand  added  to  the  producers  of 
public  and  private  wealth.  As  in  the  case  ot  the 


grain  cradle,  perfection  appeared  to  have  beeo 
reached,  butlo  I  not  so ;  the  harvester  appeared 
upon  the  field,  carrying  upon  a  revolving  apron 
the  cut  grain  to  a  platform  on  which  men  rode, 
binding  the  straw  into  sheaves.  Still  further 
progress  was  in  store,  and  to-day  no  manual 
assistance  is  required— the  automatic  binder  en- 
circles the  straw  with  a  thread  of  wire,  ties  it 
with  the  precision  of  the  sewing  machine,  and 
deposits  it  upon  the  ground  ready  to  be  carried 
to  the  stack-yard.  Such  was  the  work  exhibit- 
ed to  crowds  of  appreciative  men  who  had  met 
together  to  witness  the  trials. 

Thus  we  might  go  on  with  our  illustrations  of 
Agricultural  machinery,  among  which  only  less 
important  in  degree  is  the  thresher  and  separa- 
tor. I  was  recently  in  conversation  with  an  old 
farmer  who  told  me  he  had  reached  middle 
age  when  the  flail  was  the  only  threshing  in- 
strument (it  was  not  entitled  to  the  dignity  of 
a  machine)  unless  it  were  the  oxen's  feet  as  in 
the  days  of  ancient  Rome  and  Egypt.  Then 
nearly  simultaneously  came  the  "  sweep"  and 
the  endless-chain  horse-power,  and  my  inform- 
ant assured  me  that  so  far  as  he  was  informed, 
a  single-horse  tread  or  endless  chain  power 
erected  by  himself  was  the  first  machine  for 
threshing  set  up  in  Philadelphia  county.  ^  Placed 
near  a  public  road  it  was  the  wonder  of  all  passers 
by,  who  would  dismount  to  get  a  closer  view  of 
the  "  perpetual  motion"— perpetual  so  long  as 
it  did  not  choke,  or  the  horses  legs  tired  not. 
Now  where  do  we  stand  when  scarcely  forty 
years  have  been  added  to  that  period.  The  same 
farmer  who  related  to  me  his  experience,  him- 
self threshes  by  steam,  and  machines  exist  by 
which  it  is  claimed  2000  bushels  of  grain  may 
be  threshed  within  a  working  day— not  only 
threshed,  but  if  need  be,  winnowed,  bagged, 
and  made  ready  for  transportation  to  mill  or 
market.  I  might  refer  with  equal  pride  to  our 
improved  portable  steam  engines,  to  the  hay 
tedder,  an  invaluable  aid  when  aid  is  most  need- 
ed ;  to  the  hay  loader,  an  endless-chain  which 
elevates  the  cured  grass  and  in  a  few  minutes 
deposits  it  upo  i  the  wagon  ready  for  the  mow- 
to  the  grain  drill,  sowing  with  speed  and  almost 
mathematical  precision,  and  tho'  last,  still  loom- 
ing up  in  the  future  as  an  agency  of  immeasur- 
able power  and  worth— the  steam  plough,  with 
which  I  have  personally  had  some  practice. 

The  difficulties  in  securing  and  agreeably  di- 
recting manual  labor,  will  continue  to  urge  on- 
ward mechanical  minds  to  further  triumphs 
over  matter,  and  we  may  reasonably  calculate 
on  advances  in  the  near  future :  these  advances 
cannot,  however,  be  prompted  by  the  adoption 
of  resolutions  or  simple  expressions  of  appro- 
bation by  this  convention.  But  other  interests 
may  be  forwarded  and  pressed  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  our  farmers,  and  those  to  whom  is  com- 
mitted the  government  of  state— notably  among 
these,  that  of  forestry,  and  the  establishment  of 
schools  for  instruction  in  that  all-important  in- 


dustry,  now  looming  up  in  so  vast  proportions. 

On  the  15th  instant  there  will  be  assembled  in 
the  Judges  Pavillion  the  Second  Annual  Con- 
vention of  the  American  Forestry  Association, 
and  in  their  name,  and  by  authority  of  their 
president,  I  invite  you  to  attend. 

I  will  not  further  occupy  your  attention 
whilst  others  better  able  to  interest  you  are 
present.  If  I  shall  have  said  a  word  to  excite 
pride  in  our  common  pursuit,  my  object  will 
have  been  accomplished. 

A  brief  response  was  made  by  the  president. 

On  motion  a  committee  of  three,  on  creden- 
tials, consisting  of  Col.  Thomas  Clairborne,  of 
Tenn.,  Dr.  Thos.  P.  Janes,  of  Ga.,  and  Prof. 
N.  S.  Townshend,  of  Ohio,  was  appointed  by 
the  president. 

Vice-president,  J.  R.  Dodge,  of  the  District 
of  Columbia,  having  taken  the  chair,  the  presi- 
dent delivered  the  annual  address,  entitled 
"  A  Retrospect  of  American  Agriculture."* 
On  motion  the  thanks  of  the  Congress  were 
tendered  for  the  address. 

Remarks  concerning  the  objects  of  the  Con- 
gress were  made  by  A.  J .  Duf  ur  of  Oregon, 
Lewis  F.  Allen  of  New  York  and  Mr.  Hawley 
of  New  York. 

Mr.  Bev.  A.  Martin,  of  Georgia,  presented  a 
series  of  resolutions  in  reference  to  a  Secre- 
tary of  Agriculture,  whereupon,  on  motion, 
it  was  resolved  that  a  committee  on  resolu- 
tions be  appointed  to  which  the  resolutions 
just  presented  and  all  other  resolutions,  ex- 
cept those  relating  to  routine  business  be  re- 
ferred. Adjourned. 

The  Congress  met  at  8  o'clock  P.  M.,  in  the 
hall  of  the  Belmont  Hotel. 

Joseph  Harris,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  delivered 
an  address  on  "  The  Outlook  of  American  Ag- 
riculture." Remarks  complimentary  to  the 
address,  and  suggested  by  it  were  made  by 
Messrs.  Allen,  of  N.  Y,,  Davie  of  Ky.,  West, 
ot  Oregon,  and  others. 

The  president  announced  the  following 
committee  on  resolutions  :  Messrs.  Welch,  of 
Iowa,  Roberts,  of  N.  Y.,  Martin  of  Georgia, 
Whitman,  of  Maryland,  and  Woodward,  of 
Pennsylvania. 

The  Secretary,  Prof.  Geo.  E.  Morrow,  of 
Iowa,  delivered  an  address  on  "  The  Objects 
and  Work  of  the  National  Agricultural  Con- 
gress." A  discussion  of  the  subject  was  par- 
ticipated in  by  Messrs.  Allen,  Hawley,  Rob- 
erts and  others.  Adjourned. 

*This  address  and  others  presented  will  follow 
the  general  proceedings. 


SECOND  DAY. 

The  Congress  was  called  to  order  in  the 
Judges'  Hall  at  10  A.  M. 

In  the  absence  of  the  author,  the  secretary 
read  a  paper  on  *•  American  Agricultural 
Literature,"  by  Dr.  E.  L.  Sturtevant,  of  Mass. 

Hon.  J.  R.  Dodge,  Statistican  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  of  the  United  States 
read  an  address  upon  "  The  Uses  of  Agricul- 
tural Statistics,"  for  which  the  thanks  of  the 
Congress  were  tendered. 

Resolutions  in  reference  to  the  census 
were  presented  by  Horace  J.  Smith,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  referred,  under  the  rule,  to  the 
committee  on  resolutions. 

Hon.  Thos.  P.  Janes,  Commissioner  of  Ag- 
riculture of  the  State  of  Georgia,  read  an  ad- 
dress on  "  Agricultural  Reform."  The  thanks 
of  the  Congress  were  tendered  for  the  ad- 
dress. Adjourned. 

3  O'CLOCK,  P.  M. 

The  committee  on  credentials  reported, 
presenting  the  names  of  delegates,  &c. 

Delegates,  &c.,  Accredited  to  the  Na- 
tional Agricultural  Congress. 

From  ALABAMA.— Dr.  J.T.  Tichenor,  President 
of  the  Agricultural  College  of  Alabama,  Auburn. 

CALIFORNIA.— John  H.  Gardiner,  Rio  Vista. 

CONNECTICUT.—  T.  8.  Gold,  Secretary  of  the 
State  Board  of  Agriculture,  West  Cornwall. 

DELAWARE.— D.  J.  Murphy.  Newark  Grange, 
James  McKane,  Newark  Grange,  William  Dean, 
Newark  Grange. 

DISTRICT  OF  COLUMBIA.— J.  R.  Dodge,  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture;  Judge  J.  W.  Gray,  Pres. 
Potomac  Fruit  Growers'  Association ;  Dr.  J.  E^ 
Snodgrass,  Secretary  Potomac  Fruit  Growers' 
Association ;  Chalkley  Gillingham,  Potomac 
Fruit  Growers'  Association ;  Dr.  George  Gross, 
Potomac  Fruit  Growers'  Association. 

GEORGIA.— Dr.  Thos.  P.  Janes,  Commissioner 
of  Agriculture,  Atlanta ;  J.  S.  Newman,  Dept.  of 
Agriculture  and  Secretary  State  Horticultural 
Society,  Atlanta ;  Prof.  P.  H.  M«il,  Jr.,  Chemist 
Dept.  of  Agriculture,  Atlanta ;  Col.  T.  J.  Smith, 
Master  State  Grange,  Oconee ;  Hamilton  Yancey, 
Col.  Geo.  W.  Adams,  Bev.  A.  Martin,  Dahlonega, 
Col.  Geo.  R.  Black,  Dr.  H.  H.  Cary,  La  Grange, 
all  from  the  Georgia  State  Agricultural  Society ; 
Col.  W.  T.  N  ewman,  Georgia  State  Grange ;  Col. 
T.  G.  Holt:  P.  J.  Berckmans,  Augusta. 

ILLINOIS.— From  Illinois  State  Farmers'  Asso- 
ciation :  Hon.  John  Wentworth,  Chicago  ;  Jona- 
than Periam,  Chicago ;  H.  D.  Emery,  Chicago; 
Milton  George,  Chicago ;  Thos.  McD.  Richards, 
Woodstock;  Hon.  D.  J.  Pinckney,  Mt.  Morris; 
M.  B.  Lloyd,  Orion  ;  Lewis  D.  Steward,  Piano ; 
A.  J.  Alexander,  Oilman  ;  Gen.  L.  F.  Ross,  Avon ; 
A.  C.  Hammond,  Warsaw;  Maj.  E.  A.  Giller, 
Whitehall ;  John  W.  Hunter,  Owaneco ;  Geo.  W. 


Minier,  Minier ;  Hon.  Maiden  Jones,  Tuscola ; 
Hou.  E.  Roessler,  Shelbyville ;  B.  Pullen,  Cen- 
tralia;  Capt.  Geo.  Hunter.  Carlinville;  Hon.  J. 
M.Washburn,  Carterville  ;  Hon.  JohnLandrigan, 
Albion.  From  Henry  Co.  Agricultural  Board: 
M.  B.  Llovd,  Orion.  Dr.  A.  G.  Humphrey,  Gales- 
burg  ;  W.  C.  Flagg,  Moro. 

INDIANA.— From  Delphi  Grange :  Georire  Gilli- 
f ord,  Delhi ;  H.  B.  Gilliford,  Delhi. 

IOWA.— From  State  Agricultural  College :  Pres. 
A.  S.Welch,  Ames;  Prof.  Geo.  E.  Morrow,  Ames. 
From  Iowa  State  Horticultural  Society:  Prof. 
H.  H.  McAfee,  Ames.  From  Ames  Grange: 
Master  A.  J.  Graves,  Ames.  C.  F.  Clarkson,  Mel- 
rose;  L.  E.  Williams,  Montrose;  James  Hall, 
Lacona. 

KENTUCKY.— Col.  W.  J.  Davie,  Commissioner 
of  Agriculture,  &c.,  Frankfort ;  John  R.  Proctor, 
Kentucky  Geological  Survey. 

MARYLAND.— Hon.  Lloyd  Lowndes,  Jr.;  Corne- 
lius Staley ;  L.  A.  J.  Lamott ;  A.  Bowie  Davis, 
Brookville;  Wm.  B.  Hill ;  Maj.Wm.  B.  Matthews; 
George  Thomas ;  Gen.  John  Carroll  Walsh ;  Gen. 
L.  Giddings ;  J.  Howard,  McHenry  ;  Edmund 
Law  Rogers ;  William  Ward ;  Col.  Edward  Wil- 
kins ;  Col.  John  R.  Emory ;  Gen.  E.  L.  F.  Hard- 
castle,  Easton;  L.  L.  Waters,  Princess  Anne; 
George  Hayward;  Ezra  Whitman,  Baltimore: 
Wm.  B.  Sands,  Baltimore. 

MASSACHUSETTS.  —  Prof.  Levi  Stockbridge, 
Mass.  Agricultural  College,  Amherst. 

MINNESOTA.— From  State  Grange:  Thomas 
Tunis  Smith,  St.  Paul.  From  State  Agricultural 
Society :  Wyman  Elliott,  Minneapolis. 

MISSOURI.— C.  V.  Riley,  State  Entomologist, 
F.  B.  Chamberlain,  St.  Louis. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE.— From  State  Board  of  Agri- 
culture: Hon.  Moses  Humphrey,  Chairman  of 
the  Board ;  J.  W.  Sanborn,  Supt.  College  Farm. 

NEW  JERSEY.— From  State  Agricultural  Soci- 
ety :  P.  T.  Quinn,  Newark ;  W.  A.  Monell ;  Hon. 
Amos  Clark  ;  E.  G.  Brown.  From  State  Grange : 
3.  W.  Nicholson,  Camden ;  Wm.  M.  Iliff ;  Enos  G. 
Budd,  Budd's  Lake ;  David  T.  Haines ;  J.  V.  D. 
Duryea. 

NEW  YORK.— X.  A.  Willard,  President  N.  Y. 
Dairymen's  Association,  Little  Falls ;  Prof.  I.  H. 
Roberts,  Cornell  University,  Ithaca.  From  Ba- 
tavia  Farmers'  Club :  Henry  Iver ;  Geo.  W. 
Scott.  Lewis  F.  Allen,  Buffalo ;  Geo.  A.  Martin, 
Buffalo;  Joseph  Harris,  Rochester;  H.  Bowlby 
Willson,  19  West  46th  street,  New  York. 

OHIO.— Prof .  N.  S.  Townshend,  State  Agricult- 
ural College,  Columbus;  Dr.  John  A.  Warder, 
Pres.  National  Forestry  Association,  Cleves. 
From  Butler  Co.  Grange :  S.  Silver ;  Jos.  Allen. 
From  Muskingum  Township  Farmers'  Club- 
Marietta  :  Levi  Bartlett ;  Jes.  Wood ;  I.  G.  Bar- 
ker ;  M.  A.  Stag. 

OREGON,— A.  J.  Dufur,  Portland  ;  M.  Wilkins, 
Willamette  Forks  ;  James  Bruce,  Corvallis. 

PENNSYLVANIA.— Burnet  Landreth,  Chief  of 
Bureau  of  Agriculture  International  Exhibition, 


Philadelphia;  Dr.  A.  L.  Kennedy,  Society  for 
Promoting  Agriculture,  Philadelphia ;  Horace  J. 
Smith,  Philadelphia  ;  John  A.  Woodward,  Pres. 
Centre  Co.  Agricultural  Society;  A.Y.  H.  Adams, 
Agl.  Editor  Herald,  Carlisle;  Dr.  E.  A.  Hertz, 
Lancaster  Co.  Agricultural  and  Horticultural 
Society;  J.  L.  Landis,  Lancaster  Co.  Society; 
Henry  M.  Engle,  Marietta  Agr'l  Society.  From 
Merion  Grange:  Win.  H.  Holstein;  Edwin 
Moore  ;  Geo.  W.  Rijrhter.  From  Bucks  county 
Agricultural  Society :  Robt.  K.  Tomlinson;  Robt. 
Ivins,  Langhorne ;  M.  Amanda  Heston ;  Rachel 
W.  Shallcross ;  Henry  M.  Engle,  Lancaster  Co. 
Horticultural  Society,  Marietta ;  John  A.  Smull, 
Harrisburg. 

TENNESSEE.— Col.  Thos.  Clairborne,  Nashville. 

VIRGINIA.— From  Catoctin  Farmers'  Club  :  D. 
H.  Vandeventer ;  Col.  S.  E.  Chamberlin,  Water- 
ford;  C.  Gillingham. 

FROM  OTHER  NATIONS.— Prof.  Thos.  Segelcke, 
Royal  Agricultural  College,  Copenhagen,  Den- 
mark ;  Prof.  Jayme  Batalha  Reis,  General  Agri- 
cultural Institute  of  Portugal,  and  Vice  Presi- 
dent of  the  Royal  Central  Agricultural  Society 
of  Portugal;  C.  Rovere,  Sec'y  of  the  Portugal 
Commission ;  A.  Caubert,  Delegate  of  the  Soci- 
ety of  French  Agriculture;  James  Perault, 
Canada. 

Representatives  from  five  nations  and  twen- 
ty-one states,  including  those  from  five  agri- 
cultural papers,  seven  Granges,  fourteen 
societies,  seventeen  official  government  asso- 
ciations, and  seven  agricultural  colleges, 
comprising  133  persons  were  known  to  be 
present,  besides  many  not  reported  to  the 
Secretary. 

On  motion  a  committee  of  one  from  eaeh 
state  represented,  to  nominate  officers  for  the 
ensuing  year  was  ordered. 

Hon.  L.  F.  Allen,  of  New  York,  read  an  ad- 
dress on  "  American  Live  Stock,"  at  the  con- 
clusion of  which  a  vote  of  thanks  was  unani- 
mously tendered. 

Pres.  X.  A.  Willard,  of  the  New  York 
Dairymen's  Association,  delivered  an  address 
on  "  American  Dairying."  The  thanks  of  the 
Congress  were  voted  therefor. 

Mr.  Davis,  of  Maryland,  gave  some  interest- 
ing reminiscences  of  the  first  refrigerator  in 
Maryland. 

The  President  announced  as  the  committee 
on  nominations,  Prof.  N.  S.  Townshend,  of 
Ohio  ;  W.  J.  Davie,  of  Kentucky  ;  L.  L.  Wa- 
ters, of  Maryland ;  Col.  Thos.  Clairborne,  of 
Tennessee  ;  L.  E.  Williams,  of  Iowa ;  John 
H.  Gardiner,  of  California  ;  A .  C.  Meeker,  of 
Colorado  ;  T.  S,  Gold,  of  Connecticut ;  Dr.  J. 
E.  Snodgrass,  of  District  of  Columbia ;  Dr. 
H.  H.  Cary,  of  Georgia ;  M.  B.  Lloyd,  of  J  lli- 
nois  ;  Alfred  Gray,  of  Kansas ;  Prof.  Levi 


11 


Stockbridge,  of  Massachusetts  ;  T.  T.  Smith, 
of  Minnesota  ;  C.  V.  Riley,  of  Missouri ;  Hon. 
Moses  Humphrey,  of  New  Hampshire  ;  J.  V. 
D.  Duryea,  of  New  Jersey  ;  X.  A.  Willard,  of 
New  York;  A.  J.  Dufur,  of  Oregon;  Dr.  A.  L. 
Kennedy,  of  Pennsylvania  ;  Col.  S.  E.  Cham- 
berlin,  of  Virginia.  Adjourned. 

8  P.  M.,  BKLMONT  HOTEL. 

The  President  stated  he  had  -received  from 
H.  Bowlby  Wilson,  of  New  York,  a  paper  on 
**  Money  considered  as  an  industrial  tool."  On 
motion  the  paper  was  referred  to  the  com- 
mittee on  resolutions. 

Hon.  Alex.  Delinar,  of  Philadelphia,  who 
was  to  have  addressed  the  Congress  on  "  The 
Grain  Crop  of  1876,"  stated  that  the  paper  he 
had  prepared  was  largely  statistical,  and  that 
instead  of  reading  he  would  ask  leave  to  print 
it ;  but  consented  to  give  the  substance  of 
the  paper  in  extemporaneous  form.  The 
thanks  of  the  Congress  were  tendered  him. 

The  question  of  publishing  the  proceedings 
of  the  meeting  was  then  discussed,  and  on 
motion  of  Prof.  Roberts,  of  New  York,  it  was 
resolved  that  each  person  who  had  presented 
a  paper  should  be  permitted  to  publish  it  in 
such  periodical  as  he  might  desire,  and  that 
he  be  requested  to  furnish  each  member  of 
the  Congress  a  copy  at  its  expense.  Ad- 
journed. 

THIRD    DAY. 

JUDGES'  HALL,  10  A.  M. 

Resolutions  by  Dr.  Kennedy,  of  Pennsylva- 
nia; and  Prof.  C.  V.  Riley,  of  Missouri,  concern- 
ing the  Rocky  Mountain  Locust,  were  psesent- 
ed  and  referred  to  the  committee  on  resolu- 
tions. 

Invitations  to  visit  the  special  agricultural 
exhibition  in  the  Kansas  and  Colorado  build- 
ing, and  that  of  the  department  of  agriculture 
in  the  Government  building  were  accepted, 
the  visits  to  be  made  during  the  noon  recess. 

Col.  Thomas  Clairborne,  of  Tennessee,  de- 
livered an  address  on  "  Our  Southern  Agri- 
culture," for  which  the  thanks  of  the  Con- 
gress were  voted.  Extended  discussion  of 
the  agricultural  capabilities  of  the  South  was 
participated  in  by  Messrs.  Davie.  of  Kentucky; 
Tichenor,  of  Alabama,  and  others.  Adjourned. 

3  P.M. 

Prof.  Townshend,  of  Ohio,  in  behalf  of  the 
committee  on  nominations,  reported  as  fol- 
lows : 

The  committee  impressed  with  the  energy 
and  courtesy  of  our  present  President,  Wil- 
lard C.  Flagg,  of  Moro,  111.,  unanimously  re- 
commended his  re-election. 

For  vice-Presidents  see  list.  [Printed  in  the 


list  of  officers.] 

Our  present  excellent  Secretary  George  E. 
Morrow,  for  various  reasons,  which  to  the 
committee  seem  sufficient,  declines  a  re-elec- 
tion. The  committee  have  the  pleasure  to  re- 
commend Horace  J.  Smith,  of  Pennsylvania, 
whose  work  in  this  grand  exposition  is  a  suf- 
ficient guarantee  that  he  is  eminently  the  man 
for  secretary. 

Your  committee  recommend  Ezra  Whitman 
of  Baltimore,  for  treasurer,  and  that  Presi- 
dent, Secretary  and  Treasurer  act  as  Execu- 
tive Committee. 

For  the  next  place  of  meeting  we  recom- 
mend Chicago  or  Baltimore.  The  time  of  the 
meeting  to  be  published  by  the  president. 

The  officers  recommended  by  the  com- 
mittee were  unanimously  elected  and  the 
president  and  secretary  elect  briefly  acknowl- 
edged the  honor  done  them. 

The  question  of  the  place  for  the  next 
meeting  was  then  taken  up,  and  Buffalo,  At- 
lanta, Nashville,  Chicago  and  Baltimore  were 
suggested.  Chicago  was  finally  fixed  upon. 

Mr.  Davie,  of  Kentucky,  suggested  that  the 
time  of  meeting  be  fixed  at  the  same  date 
with  that  of  some  other  large  organization. 

Pres.  A.  S.  Welch,  of  the  Iowa  Agricultural 
College  delivered  an  address  on  "  Agricul- 
tural Education  or  the  True  Work  of  National 
Industrial  Schools."  At  the  conclusion  Mr. 
Davie,  of  Ky.,  moved  that  the  thanks  of  the 
Congress  be  extended  to  Pres.  Welch  for  his 
able  address,  which  motion  was  unanimously 
adopted. 

Ex-Secretary  Morrow  reported  the  expen- 
ses of  his  office  and  that  of  the  president  for 
the  past  year  as  $43.75  and  that  he  held  $2  of 
the  funds  of  the  Congress  making  the  balance 
due  $41.75  for  which  an  order  on  the  treasurer 
was  ordered  to  be  issued.  He  also  reported 
the  receipt  at  this  meeting  of  $92,  being  $3 
each  from  30  members  and  $2  from  another. 

An  address  was  then  read  by  Prof.  Norton 
S.  Townshend  of  the  Ohio  Agricultural  Col- 
lege on  "Agricultural  Education,"  and  the 
thanks  of  the  Congress  were  extended  to  him- 

The  topics  of  the  addresses  of  Pres.  Welch 
and  Prof.  Tewnshend  being  under  considera- 
tion, Prof.  Thomas  Segelcke,of  the  Royal  Ag- 
ricultural College  of  Denmark  at  Copenhagen, 
was  called  upon.  He  said  that  they  had  but  a 
small  country,  but  their  agricultural  college 
had  been  established  20  years,  and  he  thought 
their  people  were  well  pleased  with  the  re- 
sult. The  two  principles  of  practical  and 
theoretical  instruction  should  be  combined. 
They  have  five  departments  of  agriculture, 


12 


veterinary  science,  forestry,  surveying  and 
gardening,  and  teachers  in  each  of  the  vari 
ous  branches.  Besides  the  State  Agricultural 
College,  with  70  different  teachers,  and  taking 
two  years  for  its  course,  they  have  a  lower 
class  of  schools  for  the  poor,  occupying  only 
ten  months.  He  returned  thanks  for  admis- 
sion to  the  meetings  and  for  all  the  friend- 
ship extended  to  him  in  the  United  States- 
He  hail  spent  three  months  here,  one-half  in 
the  exhibition  and  one-half  traveling  through 
the  country,  and  J^d  always  been  received 
most  kindly  ;  and  he  felt  it  a  duty  to  express 
his  thankfulness  for  the  courtesies  extended 
to  him. 

The  subject  of  agricultural  education  was 
further  discussed  by  Messrs.  Stockbridge,  of 
the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  College,  Mi- 
mer,  of  Illinois,  Kennedy,  of  Pennsylvania, 
Tichenor,  of  Alabama,  Williams,  of  Iowa, 
and  Riley,  of  Missouri. 

The  following  gentlemen  were  unanimously 
elected  honorary  members  :  Prof.  Thomas 
Segelcke  of  Denmark  ;  Prof.  Jay  me  JBatalha 
Reis,  of  Portugal ;  C.  Rovere,  of  Portugal ; 
A.  Caubert,  of  France  ;  James  Pt-rrault,  of 
Canada. 

The  committee  on  resolutions  made  their 
report,  and  after  discussion  the  following 
were  adopted : 

Concerning  Agricultural  Statistics  Pre- 
sented by  W.  C.  Flagg. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three  be 
appointed  with  the  power  to  appoint  sub- 
committees in  the  several  states  and  territor- 
ies, whose  business  it  shall  be  to  secure  uni- 
form legislation  in  the  several  states  and  ter- 
ritories on  the  subject  of  the  collection  of 
statistics  ;  and  such  additional  legislation  by 
the  United  States  as  shall  give  full  and  relia- 
ble information  in  regard  to  all  branches  of 
agriculture. 

[J.  R.  Dodge,  of  District  of  Columbia :  T.  P. 
Janes,  of  Georgia,  and  Alfred  Gray,  of  Kansas, 
were  appointed  the  committee.] 

Concerning  the  Rocky  Mountain  Locust 
Presented  by  C.  V.  Riley  of  Missouri. 

WHEREAS,  The  people  of  some  of  the  West- 
ern and  Northwestern  states  have  again  been 
afflicted  by  the  Rocky  Mountain  Locust 
Scourge,  and 

WHEREAS,  The  devastation  of  this  insect 
form  a  most  serious  obstacle  to  the  settlement 
and  welfare  of  much  of  the  country  between 
the  Mississippi  and  the  mountains,  and  these 
devastations  have  become  a  national  calami- 
ty, and 

WHEREAS,  There  is  much  to  learn  of  the 
native  breeding  places  of  the  pest,  and  some 
hope  that  by  more  thorough  knowledge  of 
those  native  breeding  places,  and  of  the 
causes  of  the  migration  therefrom,  we  may  be 


able  to  prevent  the  invasion  of  the  more  fer- 
tile country  to  which  the  species  is  not  indi- 
genous ;  therefore 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  emphatic  opinion  of  this 
congress  that  some  action  should  be  taken  by  the 
National  Government  that  will  have  for  its  ob- 
ject the  palliation  or  extinction  of  this  crying 
evil. 

That  we  consider  that  Congress  owes  it  to  the 
people  ef  the  West  to  take  this  matter  into  con- 
sideration, and  we  call  upon  the  next  National 
Legislature  to  follow  the  example  of  other  na- 
tions under  like  circumstances,  and  appoint  a 
special  commission  for  the  thorough  investi- 
gation of  the  subject. 

That  the  passage  of  some  such  bill  as  that  in- 
troduced during  the  last  Congress  by  Senator 
Ingalls,  of  Kansas,  while  contemplating  the  in- 
vestigation of  a  few  other  insects  of  national 
importance,  such  as  the  cotton  worm  of  the 
South,  would  have  been  of  vast  moment  to  the 
people  of  the  South  and  West,  and  would  have 
brought  about  the  needed  investigation  into  the 
locust  question. 

A  SECRETARY  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

Presented  by  Bev.  A.  Martin,  of  Georgia: 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  the  National 
Agricultural  Congress,  that  the  agricultural  in- 
terest of  the  country  is  one  of,  if  not  the  most, 
important  in  the  Union ;  and  should  receive  the 
fostering  care  and  protection  of  the  Government. 

Resolved,  That  we  urge  upon  Congress  the  jus- 
tice and  the  wisdom  of  creating  a  position  in  the 
Cabinet  upon  an  equal  footing  as  to  rights,  priv- 
ileges, &c.,  to  be  called  the  "  Secretary  of  Agri- 
culture," whereby  the  interests  of  agriculturists 
may  be  fully  represeated  and  consulted,  as  well 
as  the  Monied,  War,  Naval  and  other  interests 
less  important  than  agriculture. 

Resolved,  That  we  suggest  to  the  state  and 
county  agricultural  societies  throughout  the 
Union,  that  they  petition  Congress  to  this  effect, 
to  wit :  That  the  agricultural  interests  be  repre- 
sented in  the  National  Cabinet,  and  by  a  suc- 
cessful farmer. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  be  instructed  to 
forward  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  to  the  Pres- 
ident of  the  United  States  Senate  and  the  Speak- 
er of  the  United  States  House  of  Representa- 
tives, with  the  request  to  lay  them  before  the 
bodies  over  which  they  preside. 

UNIFORMITY   OF   WEIGHTS,  MEASURES  AND 
MONEY. 

Presented  by  Dr.  A.  L.  Kennedy,  of  Penn- 
sylvania: 

Resolved.  That  the  season  of  an  International 
Exhibition  is  an  eligible  one  during  which  to 
arrive  at  a  general  agreement  on  the  subject  of 
a  uniform  system  of  weights  and  measures,  and 
one  monetary  unit  ia  the  United  States. 

Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  one  from  each 
state  here  represented,  be  appointed  to  corre- 


6pond  with  committees  that  are,  or  may  be  ap- 
pointed by  American  and  Foreign  organizations 
on  this  subject,  and  that  said  committee,  after 
auch  correspondence,  shall  report  such  modifica- 
tion of  our  system  of  weights  and  measures,  as 
may  to  them  seem  most  desirable. 

[See  committee  with  list  of  standing  com- 
mittees.] 

FARMS  FOB  REFORMATORIES. 

Presented  by  Dr.  Kennedy: 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  be,  and  he  is  in- 
structed to  address  the  officers  of  Reformatories 
tor  juvenile  offenders,  in  the  institutions  of  the 
United  States  not  already  provided  with  farms, 
and  to  urge  upon  them  the  importance  of  intro- 
ducing agricultural  labor  as  a  portion  of  the  dis- 
cipline of  their  institutions. 

THANKS  TO  SECRETARY. 

The  following,  offered  by  Mr.  Davie,  of 
Ky.,  was  unanimously  adopted  : 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Congress  be 
given  to  the  retiring  Secretary,  Mr.  G.  E.  Mor- 
row, for  the  able,  constant  and  effective  per- 
formance of  his  duties  aa  secretary  of  this  body 
which  was  with  him  a  labor  of  love  and  not  of 
profit. 

Resolved,  That  this  resolution  be  spread  upon 
the  minute  book  of  this  Congress. 

THANKS  TO  PHILADELPHIANS. 

The  following,  offered  by  Geo.  E.  Morrow, 
was  unanimously  adopted : 


Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Congress  are 
tendered  to  Horace  J.  Smith,  Dr.  A.  L.  Kennedy 
and  other  of  our  Pennsylvania  members,  for 
their  effective  aid  in  obtaining  places  of  meeting, 
and  to  Capt.  Landreth  and  Hon.  Jno.  B.  Hawley 
for  the  use  of  Judges'  Hall  and  other  attentions 
shown  us  on  the  Exhibition  Grounds. 

On  motion  adjourned  to  meet  at  the  Belmont 
Hotel  this  evening  after  adopting  a  resolution 
that  the  Executive  Committee  be  authorized 
to  take  such  action  as  to  them  seemed  best, 
regarding  the  publication  of  the  transactions. 

EVENING  SESSION. 

This  session  was  informal.  Remarks  were  made 
by  A.  L.  Murdock,  of  Boston,  and  Dr.  Snodgrass, 
of  Washington.  The  following  gentlemen  were 
elected  members  of  the  Congress : 

L.Williams,  Montrose,  Iowa;  Jas.  Hall,  Lacona, 
Warren  county,  Iowa;  M.  Wilkins,  Willamette 
Forks,  Oregon;  James  Bruce,  Corvallis,  Oregon; 
F.  B.  Chamberlain,  St.  Louis,  Mo. ;  Rev.  G.  W. 
Minier,  Minier,  111.;  L.  Fallen,  Buffalo,  N.  Y.;  J. 
E.  Snodgrass, Washington,  D.  C.;  Dr.  A.  G.  Hum- 
phrey, Galesburg,  III.;  Jno.  A.  Small,  Harrisburg, 
Pa.;  Virgil  G.  Gilmer,  Nashua,  N.  H.;  Horace  J. 
Smith,  Philadelphia,  Pa.;  C.  Gillingham,  Acco- 
tink,  Va. 

The  session  of  the  Congress  was  then  de- 
clared closed  by  Pres.  Flagg.— HORACE  J. 
SMITH,  Secretary. 


14 


NATIONAL,  AGRICULTURAL, 
CONGRESS. 


A  RETROSPECT  OF  AMERICAN 
AGRICULTURE. 


By  W.  C  FLAQQ. 


Fellow  Members  of  the  National  Agricultural 
Congress :— In  coming  before  you  at  this,  our 
Fifth  Annual  Meeting,  to  deliver  the  address 
which  the  position  I  have  the  honor  to  occupy 
requires,  the  place  and  the  year  suggest  the 
proper  topic  of  discourse.  Standing  at  the  birth 
place  of  the  American  nation,  at  the  close  of  the 
first  century  of  its  existence,  it  is  natural  that 
our  thoughts  should  revert  to  the  past  condition 
and  progress  of  our  American  Agriculture. 

American  Agriculture  was  peculiar  in  the  fact 
that  it  placed  a  large  body  of  civilized  inhabi- 
tants on  the  virgin  soil  of  the  New  World,  under 
a  climate  very  unlike  that  of  the  parts  of  Europe 
from  which  our  immigration  came.  Yet.  during 
the  two  centuries  and  a  half  which  we  may  say 
in  round  numbers  covers  our  civilized  agricult- 
ural history  we  may  be  said  to  have  rapidly  run 
over  the  usual  course  of  agricultural  develop- 
ment. 

AGRICULTURAL  DEVELOPMENT. 

Our  progenitors,  as  in  other  countries,  first 
commenced  to  gather  the  spontaneous  products 
of  the  forest  and  flood.  They  were  fishermen, 
hunters  and  woodsmen,  rather  than  farmers; 
just  as  many  of  our  inhabitants  in  the  wilds  of 
Maine  and  Oregon  are  to-day.  There  succeeded 
a  period  of  pastoral  agriculture,  not  so  well  de- 
fined in  the  wooded  Atlantic  States  but  marking 
a  distinct  stage  in  the  great  prairies  of  the  West 
and  Southwest.  During  this  period  the  breeding 
and  grazing  of  cattle,  horses  and  even  sheep  and 
swine,  alternated  with  hunting,  fishing  and  other 
occupations  of  the  backwoodsmen.  We  see  this 
going  on  in  Texas,  Kansas  and  Colorado  to-day. 
Next  in  order,  apparently,  came  a  one  idea  agri- 
culture in  the  form  of  growing  a  staple  upon 
which  the  farmer  risked  his  whole  chances  of 
success,  and  which  occupied  but  a  small  portion 
of  his  time,  leaving  abundant  leisure  for  more 
savage  pursuits  during  the  rest  of  the  year.  This 
was  seea  in  the  tobacco  culture  of  the  Atlantic 
coast,  in  the  early  day,  and  in  the  cotton  culture 
of  the  South  at  a  later  period.  It  is  seen  in  a 
later  and  modified  form  in  the  wheat  culture  of 
the  Genesee  valley  and  of  the  Northwestern  and 
Pacific  States.  It  has  generally  proved,  in  the 
long  run,  exhaustive  and  impoverishing,  and 
consequently  is  succeeded  by  mixed  agriculture 
in  which  the  farmer  seeks  a  diversity  of  crops 
according  to  his  intelligence;  and  attempts  to 
check  the  waste  of  fertility  which  is  going  on. 
Not  unf  requently  the  alternative  of  abandoning 
the  worn-out  lands  has  been  chosen,  and  real  es- 
tate declines  in  price,  and  population  diminishes 


while  the  farmer  and  his  family  seek  "fresh 
fields  and  pastures  new"  in  the  Great  West- 
Such  is  now  the  condition  of  parts  of  New  Eng- 
land, Virginia  and  other  states.  In  a  few  places 
only  we  have  reached  the  point  of  development 
known  as  intensive  agriculture  and  which  may 
be  rather  called  market  gardening  than  strictly 
agriculture.  Our  market  gardeners  and  nur- 
serymen seem  more  and  more  to  shelter  them- 
selves and  their  products  under  glass,  and  this 
again  suggests  that  the  violent  alternations  of 
our  climate  may  prevent  the  adoption  of  inten- 
sive agriculture  in  many  parts  of  our  Union. 

RAPID  PROGRESS  OF  THIS  DEVELOPMENT  IN 
AMERICA. 

All  these  various  phases  of  agricultural  pro- 
gress have  been  experienced  in  our  country  in  a 
brief  space  of  time,  and  somewhat  modified  by 
the  general  diffusion  of  trade,  may  be  all  seen  at 
work  in  different  sections  of  our  country  to-day. 
This  somewhat  confuses  the  understanding  in 
reviewing  the  agricultural  history  of  our  coun- 
try; but  the  difficulty  is  more  apparent  than 
real. 

ABORIGINAL  AGRICULTURE. 

Although  the  western  world  has  been  discov- 
ered nearly  400  years,  the  first  permanent  settle- 
ments in  the  notably  agricultural  states  of  our 
Union  are  hardly  two  centuries  and  three-quar- 
ters old.    Previous  to  that  time,  and  indeed  for 
many  years  after,  American  agriculture  was  the 
art  of  usually  unskilled   Indians,  and  occupied 
but  a  very  small  part  of  our  arable  land.    The 
Plymouth  settlers  of  1620  found  the  red  men 
growing  corn,  the  squash,  the  pumpkin,  a  spe- 
cies of  bean,  a  kind  of  sun-flower  and  tobacco. 
Their  hoes  were  made  of  clam  shells,  or  of  the 
shoulder  blades  of  the  moose.    Their  manure 
was  fish,  in  the  hill.    Hendrick  Hudson  in  hi» 
first  visit  to  the  river  that  has  received  his  name 
says  that  he  saw  corn  and   beans   enough   to 
freight  three  ships.  The  author  of  the  history  of 
New  York  states  that  three  to  four  hundred 
acres  were  found  in  cultivation  about  some  of 
the  Indian  villages.    In  the  country  of  the  Sen- 
ecas  in  1687  the  forces  of  the  Marquis  de  Nou- 
ville  claimed  to  have  destroyed  1,200,000  bushels 
of  maize.    This  seems  an  extraordinary  story ; 
but  over  half  of  our  Illinois  counties  each  pro- 
duce annually  a  much  greater  average.    The 
early  settlers  of  Virginia  bought  such  an  amount 
of  corn  from  the  natives  that  we  may  suppose  it 
was  grown  there  also  to  a  considerable  extent. 
The  Indians  of  the  new  Gulf  States  were  still 
more  advanced.    They  cultivated  maize,  peas, 
beans,  pumpkins,  melons  and  sweet  potatoes. 
De  Soto  and  his  followers  in  their  romantic  raid 
found  great  stores  of  corn  and  even  of  corn  meal 
among  nations  that  had  passed  from  the  condi- 
tion of  hunters  to  that  of  a  fixed  tillage.    This 
was  in  the  lower  Mississippi  Valley.    Still  far- 
ther West  the  Pueblo  Indians  of  New  Mexico 
and  Aiizona  have  for  an  indefinite  period  prose- 


15 


cuted  agriculture  with  irrigation.  In  the  Illi- 
nois country,  Marquette  found  abundance  of 
corn,  beans  and  melons.  Bartram  thought  from 
his  examination  of  old  Indian  town  sites  that 
the  persimmon,  honey  locust,  Chickasaw  plum, 
mulberry,  black  walnut  and  shell  bark  hickory 
were  cultivated  by  the  aborigines,  as  were  the 
apple  and  peach  at  a  later  period  when  intro- 
duced by  Europeans.  From  the  Kennebec,  and 
even  the  northern  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  to 
the  Mexican  border  and  beyond,  the  Indian  was 
probably  advancing  in  agricultural  art  and  in 
Mexico  and  Peru  had  settled  down  to  established 
courses  of  industry.  But  it  was  agriculture 
without  metal  tools  and  without  domestic  ani- 
mals. It  is  said  that  th  e  North  American  Indian 
had  no  domestic  animal  except  the  dog,  and  that 
he  was  not  used  even  for  the  chase,  but  was  sim- 
ply a  pet.  The  agriculture  of  the  aboriginal  pe- 
riod was  mostly  the  work  of  women,  using  tools 
of  stone,  shell  or  bone  in  the  more  sandy  and 
fertile  soils  along  the  streams. 

EARLY  AGRICULTURE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

There  was  no  immediate  change  made  in  this 
state  of  things  by  the  coming  of  the  white  man. 
The  dense  forests,  the  abundant  game,  the  In- 
dian hostilities,  the  predatory  animals,  the  want 
of  markets,  all  delayed  the  progress  of  agricult- 
ure. But  some  advance  was  made  in  the  cen- 
tury and  a  half  that  elapsed  between  the  land- 
ing of  the  May  Flower  and  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill. 

At  the  time  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence our  population  was  probably  less  than 
3,000,000  including  500,000  slaves.  In  New  Eng- 
land which  had  nearly  one-fourth  of  this  popu- 
lation, the  great  body  of  the  people  were  farm- 
ers, working  on  small  farms,  but  probably  de- 
voting a  good  deal  of  time  to  the  pursuits  of  the 
hunter,  fisherman  and  wood  cutter.  Elliott 
quotes  from  "  The  American  Traveler"  an  esti- 
mate of  the  exports  of  New  England  in  1770  from 
which  I  gather  that  of  £370,500  valuation  of  ex- 
ports, £12,000  were  horses  and  live  stock  and  £13, 
000  pickled  beef  and  pork.  Nearly  all  the  re- 
mainder were  products  of  the  forest  or  fisheries 
—mainly  the  latter.  New  England  therefore  at 
that  time  probably  did  not  much  more  than  sup- 
ply her  own  population  with  agricultural  pro- 
ducts. 

In  Virginia  and  Maryland  where  the  growth  of 
tobacco  commenced  at  an  early  day,  the  agri- 
cultural exports  were  much  more  important. 
Jefferson  states  that  Virginia  exported  70,000 
hogsheads  of  tobacco  in  1758,  and  at  the  time  of 
the  beginning  of  the  revolution  estimated  the 
annual  exports  of  that  state  to  equal  £850,000, 
which  includes  55,000  hogsheads  of  tobacco,  800,- 
000  bushels  of  wheat,  600,000  of  Indian  corn,  4,000 
barrels  of  pork,  1,000  barrels  of  beef,  and  5,000 
bushels  of  peas,  besides  flax  seed,  hemp,  cotton, 
horses,  &c.  Six-sevenths  at  least  of  the  exports 
of  Virginia  at  the  time  appear  to  have  been  ag- 


ricultural products.  Tobacco  was  already  ex- 
hausting the  soil  and  its  culture  diminishingr 
and  Jefferson  rejoiced  at  the  fact  and  advocated 
the  growth  of  wheat  and  live  stock. 

In  South  Carolina  I  believe  the  principal  agri- 
cultural product  of  the  colonial  period  was  rice, 
though  some  strong  efforts  had  been  made,  with 
partial  success,  to  establish  silk  culture.  Here 
as  in  Louisiana,  under  the  French,  attempts 
were  made  at  growing  other  tropical  and  semi- 
tropical  products  with  a  varied  success.  The 
growth  of  the  sugar-cane  was  begun.  Indigo 
was  planted  and  cotton  was  experimented  with, 
though  the  lack  of  cheap  ginning  processes 
prevented  its  extensive  culture  until  the  subse- 
quent period. 

Far  up  in  the  French  Louisiana,  In  what  was 
afterwards  the  Illinois  country,  wheat  and  cattle 
were  already  staple  products  and  on  occasion  of 
need,  a  large  surplus  could  be  furnished  to  the 
regions  about  New  Orleans. 

Clear  around  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coasts  from 
Maine  to  Louisiana,  and  scattered  along  the 
great  river,  Mississippi,  the  beginnings  were 
made  of  the  great  agricultural  empire  whose 
chief  development  has  taken  place  at  a  period 
far  subsequent  even  to  the  revolutionary  period. 

In  1790,  when  our  first  census  was  taken,  we 
had  a  population  of  3,929,214,  settled  on  an  area 
of  239,935  square  miles.  One-thirtieth  of  this 
population  was  found  in  cities  of  8,000  inhabi- 
tants or  over.  The  population  of  that  period, 
although  we  have  no  classification  of  its  occupa- 
tions, must  have  been  very  largely  engaged  in 
agriculture  or  kindred  pursuits  that  could  be 
prosecuted  with  it— such  as  hunting,  lumbering 
and  fishing.  Every  person  in  most  communities 
had  a  direct  interest  in  practical  agriculture. 

There  was  not  at  that  period,  nor  a  time  long 
subsequent,  anything  of  what  is  now  called  Sci- 
entific agriculture— or  the  use  of  scientific  facts 
and  scientific  methods  in  the  study  of  the  best 
practical  agriculture.  Agricultural  implements 
down  to  within  a  period  in  the  memory  of  many 
now  living  were  scarcely  better  than  in  the  days 
of  Hesiod  or  of  the  Scriptores,  Rei  Rusticae, 
The  improved  races  of  horses,  cattle,  sheep, 
swine  and  poultry,  unless  it  may  be  thorough- 
bred horses,  were  little  known  or  sought.  From 
Maine  to  Georgia  the  westward  sweep  of  culti- 
vation, like  a  forest  fire,  consumed  the  streets 
and  burnt  out  the  land.  I  wish  I  could  say  that 
in  this  last  respect  we  had  made  a  stay  of  the 
devastating  hand  of  a  pioneer  and  pilfering  hus- 
bandry; but  better  methods  seem  only  to  be 
born  of  necessity. 

AGRICULTURB  OF  1876. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  century  of  our  national 
history,  we  find  a  population  of  38,558,371,  settled 
on  1,272,239  square  miles.  Our  population  has 
increased  ten- fold,  our  settled  area  five  or  six-, 
fold.  But  one-fifth  of  this  vastly  increased  pop- 
ulation lives  in  cities  exceeding  ei*ht  thousand 


16 


1n  population,  and  the  relative  number.  Import- 
ance and  wealth  of  the  agricultural  class  has 
declined— very  greatly  in  New  England,  compar- 
atively little  in  the  Gulf  States.  At  the  last 
census  barely  one-half  of  our  industrial  popula- 
tion was  found  to  be  engaged  in  agriculture 
ranging  as  low  as  12  and  13  per  cent,  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  Rhode  Island,  and  as  high  as  80  and 
81  in  Mississippi  and  Arkansas.  The  "  extensive" 
practice  of  agriculture  limits  agriculture  to  the 
sparser  populations.  Superintendent  Walker,  of 
the  census  bureau,  states  that  as  yet  agriculture 
in  the  United  States  does  not  support  a  popula- 
tion of  more  than  45  to  the  square  mile.  Where 
the  population  exceeds  that  density  it  is  sup- 
ported by  other  industries. 

In  New  England  to-day,  coming  to  details,  ag- 
riculture in  many  of  its  aspects  appears  to  be  in 
a  decline.  The  farms  of  Massachusetts  are  in- 
creasing in  size,  and  there  is  a  remarkable  dis- 
appearance of  farms  of  a  small  size.  Through- 
out New  England  the  subdivision  of  territorial 
property  appears  to  have  reached  nearly  its 
limit.  The  American  population  is  deserting  the 
farms  in  the  older  and  more  thickly  settled  com- 
munities and  its  place  is  filled  by  foreign  popu- 
lation of  fewer  wants  and  greater  economy. 
Farm  lands  in  the  midst  of  a  population  unsur- 
passed for  intelligence  and  high  character  are 
seljng  for  less  than  the  cost  of  the  buildings,  and 
for  less  than  farms  a  thousand  miles  away  from 
the  sea  board.  This  has  been  the  result  wrought 
out  more  rapidly  than  elsewhere  en  the  compar- 
atively thin  soil  of  New  England.  The  more 
fertile  soils  of  New  York,  New  Jersey  and  Penn- 
sylvania are  on  the  same  road  it  may  be  pre- 
sumed, but  have  not  gone  so  far.  Maryland  and 
Virginia,  unequaled  in  many  respects  as  to  cli- 
mate and  commercial  advantages,  were  long  ago 
plundered  and  impoverished  by  a  profligate 
practice  of  agriculture,  and  their  worn-out 
farms  are  deserted  by  migrating  heirs,  and  sold 
for  low  prices  to  a  new  order  of  settlers.  The 
Garolinas  and  Georgia  differ  but  in  degree  ;  and 
it  seems  omy  a  question  of  time  when  the  whole 
American  continent  shall  have  been  run  over  by 
this  marauding  husbandry. 

This  seems  a  gloomy  view,  but  is  corroborated 
by  the  observation  of  intelligent  foreigners.  As 
I  write,  I  take  up  Harper's  Weekly  of  a  late 
date  and  read  a  late  notice  of  Lord  Houghton, 
who  has  lately  visited  us. 

Lord  Houghton  is  represented  as  saying: 
*k  With  regard  to  agriculture  within  the  next  fifty 
years,  America  will  have  been  reduced,  not- 
withstanding its  immense  space,  very  much  to 
the  condition  of  the  European  countries  in  gen- 
eral ;  that  was  to  say,  she  would  have  to  recu- 
perate by  artificial  means  the  natural  wealth 
that  was  now  being  exhausted." 

I  take  up  the  London  Quarterly  Review,  of 
July,  1876,  and  read  "  Nothing  now  strikes  a 
traveler  more  than  the  poverty  of  the  land  al- 
most in  the  neighborhood  of  large  towns,  which 


industry  could  easily  have  relieved,  had  it  not 
been  tempted  away  to  distant,  richer  soils." 

CAUSES  AFFECTING  OUR  AGRICULTURE. 

Several  very  important  facts  have  been  brought 
to  bear  on  American  agriculture  during  the  last 
century  that  have  essentially  changed  its  condi- 
tions in  different  parts  of  the  Union. 

WASTE  OF  SOILS. 

1.  First  in  point  of  time  is  the  deterioration  or 
waste  of  soil.    The  Atlantic  shores  were  cleared 
of  their  forests  with  little  forethought  of  the 
denudation  that  would  strip  the  hills  of  their 
sometimes  scanty  covering  of  soil.  The  soil  that 
was  not  transported  from  its  original  bed  was 
cropped  until  it  yielded  returns  that  would  not 
pay  for  the  cultivation.    The  virgin  fields  to  the 
westward  prevented  attempts  at  any  due  pres- 
ervation or  restoration  of  fertility.    The  new 
lands  of  the  West  have  been  a  continual  dis- 
couragement to  an  improved  agriculture  in  the 
East. 

IMPROVED  TRANSPORTATION. 

2.  This  discouragement  has  been  prolonged  by 
improved   transportation.    The   New   England 
farmer  finds  that  Western  corn  is  brought  from 
Illinois  or  Iowa  and  sold  for  a  less  sum  than  he 
can  usually  produce  it  for.    Reduce  the  unnec- 
essarily high  freight  rates  and  even  this,  cheap- 
est of  the  cereals,  can  be  carried  from  the  hun- 
dredth meridian  (which  I  assume  to  be  the  West- 
ern boundary  of  profitable  grain  growing  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley),  to  the  sea  board ;   and  more 
and  more  replace  the   local  production.    The 
case  is  still  stronger  in  the  growth  of  wheat 
whose  culture  continually  recedes  Westward, 
until  it  now  nearly  reaches  the  boundary  line  of 
profitable  cultivation.   The  census  of  1870  shows 
that  New  England  did  not  produce  more  than 
half  a  bushel  of  wheat  to  each  person  of  its  pop- 
ulation, nor  more  than  two  and  a  half  of  corn. 
All  the  sea  board  states  gave  a  similar,  though 
not  so  extreme  a  result,  which  can  usually  be 
traced  to  the  fact  that  Western  grain  is  under- 
selling Eastern  grain  in  its  own  markets. 

This  produces  a  great  temporary  disturbance 
in  Eastern  practices  of  agriculture  and  in  the 
prices  of  Eastern  farm  lands.  It  does  not  effect 
the  East  alone,  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois  farm- 
ers are  disturbed  and  discouraged  by  the  under- 
selling competition  of  states  still  farther  West. 
The  cattle  of  Kansas  and  Texas  and  the  wheat 
of  Minnesota  are  troublesome  to  the  late  pioneer 
states.  Agricultural  production  grows  less 
profitable  all  along  the  line  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Mississippi. 

If  we  pass  to  the  other  end  of  the  line,  along 
our  Western  frontier,  we  find  a  precocious,  pre- 
mature development  of  agriculture.  Great 
crops  of  corn  are  grown  quickly,  but  the  cattle 
and  swine  and  other  live  stock  for  its  conversion 
into  more  compact  forms  have  not  yet  arrived. 
These  come  with  the  wealth  of  older  communi- 
ties. Immense  areas  of  wheat  are  harvested 


L7 


where  there  are  no  mills  to  convert  them  into 
flour,  and  few  mechanics  or  other  than  farmers 
to  purchase  the  product.  Hence  we  have  im- 
mense shipments  of  cheap,  raw  products  over 
louff  lines  of  railway  to  tide  water.  The  high 
rates  of  freight  and  the  low  prices  of  products 
which  usually  come  together,  depress  the  mar- 
ket to  an  extent  that  makes  production  no  long- 
er profitable. 

Hence  we  may  say  that  while  improved  facili- 
ties for  transportation  have  done  much  to  in- 
crease and  extend  agricultural  production,  and 
to  equalize  the  values  of  agricultural  products 
and  of  farm  lands  it  has  not  been  an  unmixed 
benefit.  It  will  not  be,  perhaps,  until  the  West- 
ern line  of  profitable  cereal  growth  has  been 
reached,  when  we  may  anticipate  a  reflex  move- 
ment in  cereal  crops  and  their  more  general  pro- 
duction in  the  East  as  well  as  the  West.  Corn 
will  carry  with  it  cattle  and  other  live  stock,  and 
renewed  and  more  general  attention  will  be  paid 
to  the  preservation  and  improvement  of  the  fer- 
tility of  farm  lands. 

The  chief  advantage  of  modern  transportation 
to  the  agricultural  class  I  apprehend  to  be  in 
the  impulse  that  is  given  to  intercommunication, 
the  waking  up  of  dormant  energies,  and  the  dis- 
semination of  improved  implements,  improved 
varieties  of  agricultural  plants  and  animals  and 
improved  processes. 

AGRICULTURAL,    MACHINERY. 

3.  But  one  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  af- 
fecting American  agriculture,  has  been  the  Im- 
provement of  Agricultural  Implements  and 
machinery.  Least  progress  has  been  made,  so 
far  as  economy  of  force  is  concerned,  in  im- 
plements used  in  turning  and  pulverizing  the 
soil.  ?et  the  plough,  the  harrow,  and  the  culti- 
vator of  to-day,  are  wonderful  advances  be- 
yond these  of  the  Revolutionary  period,  or 
even  of  half  a  century  ago.  Down  to  within  a 
period  in  the  remembrance  of  many  now  liv- 
ing, the  plough  was  of  wood,  pointed  with  iron 
and  its  wooden  mould  board  perhaps,  covered 
with  strips  of  hoop  iron.  The  reader  of  Gould's 
elaborate  report  of  the  trial  of  ploughs,  in  the 
New  York  Agricultural  transactions  of  1867, 
will  remember  the  immense  distance  between 
the  primitive  American  plough,  described  by 
Mr.  Allen  and  the  modern  implements  of  Hoi- 
brook.  Still  more  remarkable  in  the  amount  of 
labor  saved,  and  the  quality  of  work,  have 
been  the  implements  used  in  seed  planting— the 
drill  and  the  corn  planter.  More  marked  yet,  is 
the  work  of  the  harvesting  implements,  the 
reaper,  the  mower,  and  the  horse  rake,  and  the 
threshing  machine.  It  is  true  that  these  im- 
provements save  labor  in  an  unequal  degree.  A 
single  person  can  rake,  perhaps  20  acres,  mow  10 
acres,  and  harrow,  roll  or  plant,  equal  or  greater 
amounts  of  land  ;  but  he  cannot  plough  in  any 
equal  ratio.  It  is  true  also,  that  in  many  cases 
the  cost  of  the  work  done,  is  not  sensibly  di- 
minished. But  the  fact  remains,  that  a  much 


larger  number  of  bushels  of  grain,  or  tons  of 
hay,  and  consequently  of  human  food,  can  be 
made  with  far  less  expenditure  of  human  labor, 
than  ever  before.  A  much  smaller  number  of 
persons  are  needed  in  agricultural  processes,  a 
much  larger  number  are  set  free  to  engage  in 
other  pursuits.  In  the  ten  agricultural  states 
of  the  Northwest  in  1870,  but  one-third  of  the 
people  of  the  CTnited  States  averaged  53  bushels 
of  corn  for  every  man  woman  and  child,  and 
nearly  75  bushels  ea3h  of  cereals. 

The  ultimate  result  or  tendency  of  this  im- 
mense increase  in  the  power  of  production, 
which,  however,  has  its  limits  in  the  productive 
capacity  of  the  soil,  and  the  extent  of  its  ara- 
ble acres,  is  difficult  to  foresee.  It  does  not  add 
in  any  equal  ratio  to  the  wealth  of  the  agri- 
cultural class.  The  free-hold  farmer  of  Ameri- 
ca, seems  to  me  to  follow  very  much  the  course 
of  the  manual  laborer  in  other  departments 
of  industry.  He  obtains  a  subsistence,  more  or 
Jess  bare,  according  to  his  conditions  ;  but  the 
main  profits  of  increased  production  go  else- 
where, usually  I  think,  to  the  trader  or  the 
transporter.  The  annual  production  and  ad- 
dition to  one  national  wealth,  is  undoubtedly 
immensely  increased,  but  if  we  can  trust  the 
census  reports,  this  wealth  accumulates  in  the 
great  cities. 

DIVISION  OF  LABOR. 

4.  Another,  and  remarkable  modification   of 
agricultural  industry  in  America,  has  come  from 
the  division  of  labor,  as  our  civilization   and 
settlement  advances.    In  the  cabin  of  the  pio- 
neer, all  arts  and  trades  may  be  found.     The 
husbandman  builds  his  bouse,  makes  his  imple- 
ments, grinds  his    corn   and  makes    his   shoes. 
The  wife  spins,  weaves  and  makes  the  clothing, 
gathers  the  simples  that  answer  as  medicines, 
and  performs  a  hundred  functions  unknown  to 
more  advanced  communities.     Later  develop- 
ments are  changing  all  this,  and  go  farther  in 
the  direction  of  destroying  the  much  advocat- 
ed "  mixed  husbandry,"  and  enforcing  the  hith- 
erto condemned  custom,  of  confining1  agriculture 
to  the  raw  products.  The  making  of  cheese,  but- 
ter, cider,  wine,  vinegar,  canned  and  dried  fruits 
and  vegetables,  sugars,  syrups,  starch,  brooms, 
«&c.,  &c.,  under  a  law  of  our   social   develop- 
ment became  specialities,  and  leave  the  farm- 
houses for  the  factories.    The  farmer's  work 
becomes  therefore,  more  and  more  specialized 
and  confined  to  culture  of  the   soil  proper.      It 
remains  to  be  seen  whether  this  will  be   an  ad- 
vantage, or  the  contrary.    It  is  opposed  to  the 
rural  economy,  taught  by  many   European  and 
American  agriculturists,  but  will  bring  the  ad- 
vantages of  greater  concentration  of  purpose 
and  skill  of  labor. 

THE  NATURAL  SCIENCES. 

5.  Scientific    progress  has  had  its    effect  on 
American  agriculture,    One  hundred  years  ago 
there  was  no  agricultural  chemistry,  meteorol- 
ogy, botany,  geology  or   zoology,    comparable 


18 


with  the  present.  Johnson's  How  Crops  Grow ; 
and  How  Crops  Feed  ;  Darwin's  Animals  and 
Plants  under  Domestication,  and  the  now  re- 
gpectable  array  of  more  special  books,  bearing 
on  many  branches  of  agricultural  science  may 
even  be  considered  tha  product  of  the  last  quar- 
ter of  a  century.  Attempts  at  scientific  agri- 
cultural education  have  been  commenced  in 
nearly  every  state  of  the  Union,  under  the  agri- 
cultural and  mechanical  college  grant.  A  great- 
ly extended  test  and  use  of  fertilizers,  has  been 
made  in  all  the  old  states.  The  effects  of  our 
variable  climate  on  animal  and  vegetable  life, 
begin  to  be  comprehended  in  the  light  of  pub- 
lic and  private  observations.  The  physiology  of 
plants,  and  the  discovery  and  dissemination  of 
new  varieties  of  grains,  vegetables  and  fruits, 
are  studied  and  prosecuted  with  vigor.  The 
principles  of  animal  life  in  the  breeding  and 
feeding  of  domestic  animals,  are  studied  and 
applied  as  never  before. 

I  do  not  say  this  in  boastf ulness,  for  I  believe 
as  compared  with  other  nations,  we  have  much 
to  learn,  though  I  hope  we  have  also  some- 
thing to  teach.  The  desire,  and  I  may  add  the 
necessity,  of  immediate  results,  has  made  our 
agriculture  and  our  science  somewhat  super- 
ficial and  hasty,  and  not  always  sound.  I  only 
claim  that  we  are  "  marching  on." 

THE  GENERAL  RESULT. 

In  considering  these  and  other  causes  now 
at  work,  I  conclude  that  the  agricultural  class 
of  the  United  States,  in  common  with  that  of 
other  countries,  has  reached  a  point  where  its 
next  movemeat  may  be  an  important  one,  not 
only  for  itself,  but  mankind.  The  increased 
intelligence  of  mankind,  resulting  from  more 
general  and  free  intercommunication,  is  having 
its  effect  on  the  conservative  and  slowly  influ- 
enced agricultural  class.  It  awakens  to  claim 
and  take  a  part  in  the  direction  of  affairs— to 
share  in  that  democratic  possession  of  society 
and  government,  which  De  Tocqueville,  more 
than  a  generation  ago,  regarded  as  inevitable. 

Increased  intelligence  has  improved  our  own 
soils,  adopted  better  tools,  selected  better  grains 
and  grasses,  grown  heavier  crops,  bred  better 
animals,  and  in  many  ways  improved  the  quali- 
ty and  the  quantity  of  our  agriculture.  The 
farm  houses  and  the  out  houses,  are  more 
adapted  to  their  purpose.  But  the  increased 
intelligence  which  has  brought  all  this  about, 
cannot  rest  here,  even  when  improved  agricult- 
ure becomes  far  more  common  than  now. 
With  increased  knowledge  comes  consciousness 
of  the  fact,  that  the  agricultural  class  is  un- 
equally weighted  in  the  race  of  life.  The  corn 
crop,  as  our  statistican,  Mr.  Dodge,  has  said: 
"  cannot  be  cornered,"  and  the  same  fact  is  in  a 
good  degree  true  of  all  agricultural  products. 
There  is  nearly  complete  mobility  and  free  trade 
in  agricultural  products.  If  the  demand  be- 
comes limited,  or  if  there  is  over  production, 


the  half-million  farmers  scattered  over  the 
Union  cannot  meet  and  resolve  to  plant  half 
their  land  next  year.  They  cannot  adopt  The 
tactics  of  the  coal  miners,  the  iron  men  or  the 
book  publishers,  in  preventing  the  free  work- 
ing of  the  law  of  supply  and  demand.  They 
cannot  control  prices  like  the  trader,  and  trans- 
porter for  a  like  reason.  The  power,  or  at 
least  the  habit  of  combination  is  waating. 

UNEQUAL  LEGISLATION. 

With  increased  knowledge  also  comes  the  con- 
viction that  the  statute  laws,  as  well  as  the 
"laws  of  trade,"  have  been  controlled  in  the  in- 
terest of  others  than  the  agricultural  class.  Tho 
laws  of  taxation  in  nearly  every  state  with 
which  I  am  acquainted  are  most  burdensome 
to  its  farmers.  The  bank  charters  and  rail  road 
charters  give  dangerous  powers  over  the  com- 
merce and  transportation  of  agricultural  pro- 
ducts, as  do  the  powers  granted  telegraph  com- 
panies over  the  transmission  of  commercial  in- 
telligence. It  has  been  deemed  necessary  to 
"encourage"  manufactures  by  tariff  s;  book  mak- 
ing by  copyright ;  invention  by  patents ;  nation- 
al banks  by  gratuitous  issues  of  notes ;  periodi- 
cals by  cheap  postage;  but  the  agriculturist  with 
the  exception  of  a  tariff  on  sugar  and  wool  and 
a  cheap  postage  law  in  relation  to  seeds  and 
cions,  which  Senator  Hamlin  and  the  express 
companies  made  haste  to  repeal,  has  been  left 
to  exemplify  the  working  of  the  Laises  faire 
principle,  so  far  as  help  was  concerned. 

This  knowledge  and  these  convictions  will  bring 
the  remedy  needful  to  a  prosperous  prosecution 
of  agriculture—  a  fair  field  and  no  favor.  It  may 
come  easily  with  the  irresistible  force  of  an  en- 
lightened and  judicious  public  opinion :  but  it  is 
more  probable  that,  like  other  great  movements 
against  accustomed  and  vested  wrong,  its  way 
must  be  fought  out  with  tongue  and  pen. 

Gentlemen,  I  have  touched  hastily  only  a  few 
of  the  many  topics  that  this  subject  and  this  oc- 
casion suggest.  But,  perhaps,  I  have  said  enough 
to  show  the  vastness  and  the  importance  of  the 
domain,  geographical,  scientific  and  economical, 
that  an  organization  like  this  Should  attempt  to 
occupy.  I  believe  that  the  addresses  of  the  able 
gentlemen  who  have  consented  to  come  before 
us,  will  adduce  still  more  incontrovertible  evi- 
dence of  the  fact;  and  I  trust  the  day  is  not  far 
distant  when  those  annual  gatherings,  like  those 
of  the  Agricultural  Society  of  France,  shall 
number  their  hundreds  and  thousands  of  spec- 
ialists in  every  department  of  theoretical  and 
practical  agriculture.  And  when  I  look  upon 
this  vast  array  of  the  agricultural  products  and 
machinery  of  our  country,  supplemented  by 
those  of  the  remotest  quarter  of  the  globe,  I 
think  that  even  we,  who,  sometimes  are  half-% 
ashamed  of  our  own  enthusiasm,  do  not  half 
comprehend  the  magnitude  and  importance  of 
the  work  in  which  we  are  engaged.  When  the 
farmers  of  the  world  become  what  we  would 
have  them  ;  what  the  object  lessons  of  this  great 
exhibition,  and  the  discussions  of  like  gatherings 
shall  make  them,  we  shall  enter  upon  that  gold- 
en age  of  equality  of  rights  and  duties,  which 
the  democratic  theory  of  government  necessi- 
tates, but  which  can  be  only  entirely  reached 
through  future  years  of  earnest  labor  on  the 
part  of  the  friends  of  agriculture.  The  great 
work  of  the  next  generation  1  apprehend,  is  to 
secure  the  laboring  class  its  rights  of  education 
and  thrift ;  and  the  mass  of  this  class  is  made 
up  of  the  men  in  whose  behalf  we  have  gathered 
here  to-day. 


19 


OBJECTS    AND    WORK    FOR    THE 
NATIONAL  AOR'L  CONGRESS. 


By  the  Secretary,  GEO.  E.  MORROW. 


The  name  of  this  association — the  National  Ag- 
ricultural Congress— suggests  clearly  two  things 
as  to  its  nature.  First,  It  is  a  national  organiza- 
tion ;  not  for  the  few,  not  for  those  of  a  section, 
not  for  any  private  or  personal  schemes ;  but 
designed,  so  far  as  it  is  possible,  to  have  its  influ- 
ence extend  over  all  the  land.  Next,  it  is  an  ag- 
ricultural association;  its  object  is  not,  primarily, 
to  advance  religion,  to  discuss  politics,  to  engage 
in  works  of  charity,  not  any  of  these  things,  but, 
to  quote  from  its  constitution,  "  Its  object  shall 
be  the  collection  and  dissemination  of  informa- 
tion in  relation  to  agriculture  in  the  several 
states  and  territories,  and  concerning  the  climatic 
economical  and  other  conditions  affecting-  its 
progress  anel  prosperity." 

It  may  also  be  said  that  in  its  relations  to  other 
associations  for  the  promotion  of  agriculture, 
this  Congress  is  designed  to  be  friendly  and  co- 
operative, rather  than  a  rival  or  critic,  and  again, 
I  hope  it  may  truthfully  be  said  this  is  a  modest 
and  not  an  assuming  or  arrogant  body.  It  is  not 
claimed  to  be  the  only  or  the  greatest  instru- 
mentality for  accomplishing  the  end  for  which 
it  labors ;  rather  it  is  content  to  do  what  it  can 
for  the  good  of  the  agriculture  of  the  country, 
rejoicing  in  any  and  every  like  work  by  what- 
ever means  it  may  be  accomplished. 

With  the  limitations  and  qualifications  there 
still  remains  a  marvelously  wide  field.  We  have 
all  American  agriculture  and  not  any  one  spec- 
ialty in  whatever  relates  to  the  cotton  of  the 
South,  the  grain  of  the  West,  the  dairy,  the  cat- 
tle on  the  plains  of  Texas  or  the  hills  of  New 
England ;  in  whatever  concerns  the  producer  of 
any  agricultural  product  in  his  work,  he  may 
properly  ask  the  interest  and  aid  of  this  associa- 
tion. It  may  properly  discuss  the  questions  re- 
lating directly  to  production — tillage,  varieties 
of  seeds  and  animals,  fertilization,  etc.;  it  may 
and  should  go  further  than  this  and  consider 
those  things  which  affect  the  distribution  of  ag- 
ricultural products— the  great  question  of  trans- 
portation, with  its  important  and  complicated 
effects  on  the  agriculture  of  the  different  sec- 
tions of  the  country,  the  home  and  foreign  mar- 
kets, tariffs ;  tnese  and  like  topics  appropriately 
may  engage  the  thought  and  discussion  of  the 
members  of  the  Congress.  And  so  the  important 
and  as  yet  but  imperfectly  appreciated  subject 
of  agricultural  statistics— how  to  secure  their 
more  prompt,  accurate  and  thorough  collection 
and  dissemination— is  directly  within  the  letter 
and  spirit  of  the  object  for  which  the  association 
was  formed.  The  vital  question  of  agricultural 
education,  and  the  equally  important  question 
of  the  education  of  the  agricalturists  ;  the  rela- 
tions of  a  host  of  sciences  to  agriculture,  and 


the  means  of  best  applying  their  teachings ;  all 
these  and  other  topics  of  stupendous  importance 
present  themselves  to  the  Congress.  And  lastly 
it  may  properly  consider  questions  of  legislation 
as  these  effect  agriculture ;  not  in  any  partisan 
spirit ;  not  to  seek  any  legislation  in  the  special 
interest  of  agriculturists  as  a  class— for  as  the 
farmers  should  oppose  legislation  in  the  special 
interest  of  any  other  class,  they  should  equally 
oppose  that  which  is  offered  as  advancing  their 
own  special  interests  rather  than  for  the  good  of 
all  classes.  But  to  consider  and  present  the 
opinion  of  farmers  on  many  questions  in  which 
they  are  vitally  interested. 

For  the  improvement  of  agriculture  in  its  re- 
lations to  the  individual  and  to  the  class  we  need 
two  things— more  information  and  more  interest. 
To  know  more  about  it  and  to  take  more  inter- 
est in  it,  that  we  may  the  better  make  use  of 
the  knowledge  we  have  and  that  we  may  acquire. 
In  the  effort  to  gain  information,  the  Congress 
should  consider  all  the  topics  named  in  a  broad, 
national  way.  We  should  remember  that  the 
steam  car  and  the  telegraph,  that  improved 
means  of  communication  and  transportation 
have  largely  abolished  the  isolation  of  farmers. 
It  is  no  longer  true  that  those  of  any  one  section 
can  feel  themselves  independent  of  or  uninter- 
ested in  the  condition  of  those  of  other  sections. 
It  is  a  serious  misfortune  that  there  should  be, 
on  the  part  of  so  many  connected  with  agricult- 
ure, so  strong  a  tendency  to  narrow-mindedness. 
The  Congress  should  seek  to  know  both  the  ac- 
tual and  relative  importance  of  subjects  brought 
before  it.  Its  sessions  should  be  no  place  for  the 
riding  of  the  hobbies  of  narrow-minded  men,  to 
whom  all  the  world  seems  to  revolve  around 
their  little  plans,  interests  or  localities.  It 
should  seek  to  learn  all  that  can  be  learned  of 
the  resources  of  all  sections.  The  study  of  our 
agriculture  by  states  or  sections,  as  has  been  the 
custom  in  the  past,  is  unsatisfactory,  tending  to 
produce  this  narrow-mindedness  and  imperfect 
conception  of  important  and  wide-reaching 
questions.  The  Congress  may  furnish  a  common 
meeting  ground  for  the  actual  farmer,  for  the 
editor,  the  teacher,  the  scientist,  the  leader  of 
societies  connected  with  agriculture,  and  I  hope 
it  may  be  ever  said  of  it  that  it  is  willing  and 
anxious  to  hear  the  other  side  of  all  questions 
that  its  members  are  not  so  much  advocates  as 
they  are  seekers  after  the  truth. 

In  the  development  of  increased  interest  in 
agriculture,  for  which  there  is  surely  much  need, 
the  members  of  this  association  may  do  much, 
by  showing  that  they  are  themselves  interested; 
that  men  of  education  and  position  think  agri- 
culture worthy  to  be  thought  about  and  talked 
about,  and  not  to  be  regarded  as  simply  a  disa- 
greeable means  of  securing  a  livelihood. 

I  name  three,  methods  of  work  for  the  Con- 
gress. First,  and  in  some  sense  chief,  by  popular 
meetings,  usually  held  once  a  year.  There  is 


power  and  influence  in  the  sayings  and  doings 
»f  representative  bodies  of  men  assembled  to- 
gether "with  one  accord  in  one  place."  These 
meetings  may  discuss  general  topics,  or,  on  oc- 
casion, special  topics  on  which  it  is  desirable  to 
collect  information  or  to  stimulate  and  express 
public  opinion.  Second,  by  publishing  its  trans- 
actions, it  will  not  be  necessary  to  infringe  on 
the  province  of  national  or  state  associations, 
but  by  presenting  in  a  cheap  yet  permanent 
form  the  addresses  and  other  actions  of  the  an- 
nual meetings,  a  good  which  it  is  difficult  to  fully 
estimate,  may  be  done  in  a  series  of  years.  As 
an  illustration  I  need  only  refer  to  the  addresses 
at  the  present  meeting.  It  is  not  mere  boasting 
to  say  that  in  no  other  way  can  an  equally  good 
knowledge  of  the  history,  progress  and  present 
position  of  our  agriculture  as  a  whole,  and  espe- 
cially in  some  of  its  great  specialties,  be  so  read- 
ily and  conveniently  obtained  as  by  a  careful 
reading  of  what  has  been  spoken  during  this 
meeting.  Third,  I  name  special  investigations 
by  commissions  or  individual  members.  This 
branch  would  not  be  prominent  in  the  near  fu- 
ture perhaps,  but  it  might  ultimately  become 
important  and  effective.  It  is  not  probable  the 
association  would  ever  find  it  advisable  to  as- 
sume the  management  of  agricultural  exhibi- 
tions. In  each  of  the  ways  named,  the  Congress 
can  exert  a  healthful  and  important  influence  in 
increasing  our  store  of  information,  in  stimula- 
ting interest,  and  in  forming  and  concentrating 
public  opinion  on  matters  requiring  action,  leg- 
islative or  individual. 

As  most  nearly  representing  my  ideal  of  the 
future  of  this  Congress,  I  would  name  some  of 
our  national  associations  of  a  scientific  nature. 
As  in  them,  so  in  this,  I  would  have  a  division 
into  sections  for  the  more  careful  consideration 
of  a  variety  of  topics  for  which  there  might  not 
be  time  nor  opportunity  before  the  general  body. 

That  the  work  proposed  may  be  done  effect- 
ively, the  Congress  needs  an  increased  member- 
ship. It  now  relies,  and  I  hope  always  will  rely, 
for  its  funds  solely  on  voluntary  membership 
fees.  It  asks  the  aid  in  this  way  of  all  friends  of 
agriculture ;  and  I  believe  this  is  the  only  aid 
for  which  it  should  ask ;  believing  as  I  do  that 
there  is  place  and  room  and  need  for  the  associa- 
tion ;  believing  as  I  do  that  it  may  have  a  pros- 
perous arid  useful  career,  I  look  to  those  inter- 
ested in  agriculture  for  its  support.  It  seems  to 
me  we  have  now  reached  a  position  from  whioh 
we  may  ask  this  support,  feeling  that  the  Con- 
gress is  able  to  give  a  full  return  for  all  it  will 
receive. 

The  leading  obstacles  to  success,  as  it  seems  to 
me,  are  three.  First,  the  very  magnitude  of  the 
work  proposed  and  the  wide  field  sought  to  be 
covered.  As  a  rule,  our  successful  associations 
connected  with  agriculture  have  had  a  special 
object,  devoting  themselves  to  the  advancement 
of  a  specialty.  The  American  Pomological  So- 


ciety, which  has  done  a  great  work  and  won  a 
deservedly  high  position;  the  American,  North- 
western and  various  state  dairy  associations 
which  have  been  so  largely  instrumental  in  the 
rapid  advancement  of  the  dairy  interests  of 
America,  may  be  named  as  cases  in  point.  This 
is  a  real  difficulty  and  to  prevent  the  injurious 
effects  of  it  will  require  wise  and  prudent  man- 
agement. The  second  great  obstacle  to  success 
is  of  kindred  nature  and  is  found  in  the  vast  ex- 
tent of  our  country,  making  it  costly  in  time  and 
money  for  many  who  may  be  interested  to  at- 
tend the  meetings  of  the  Congress.  This  may  be 
met  in  part  by  having  the  meetings  held  in  dif- 
ferent portions  of  the  country,  and  is  also  partly 
met  by  the  delegate  as  well  as  by  personal  mem- 
bership which  has  been  provided.  By  this,  the 
presence  of  even  a  single  representative  may 
give  expression  and  emphasis  to  the  views  of 
the  members  of  a  large  society  or  the  mass  of 
farmers  in  even  an  entire  state.  The  third  ob- 
stacle to  popularity  is  one  which,  if  human  na- 
ture were  perfect,  need  not  be  named.  It  is 
found  in  the.fact  that  the  association  makes  no 
direct  appeal  to  purely  selfish  motives.  It  docs 
not  promise  immediate,  direct  and  specified  pe- 
cuniary advantage  to  its  members.  It  offers  uo 
high  salaries  to  induce  men  to  become  its  lead- 
ers. It  is  not  probable  that  it  will  try  to  advau  ;e 
the  political  aspirations  of  its  members.  It  offers 
little  in  the  way  of  fame  to  those  who  work  with 
it.  Its  hopes  and  expectations  are  rather  that, 
quietly,  perhaps  slowly,  it  may  exert  an  import- 
ant influence  in  advancing  and  developing  the 
agricultural  interests  of  the  whole  country,  do- 
ing most  for  those  regions  and  these  individuals 
who  will  most  earnestly  and  effectively  work 
with  it. 

In  the  near  future  our  American  agriculture 
must  take  a  higher  position.  In  no  other  coun- 
try has  it  advanced  more  rapidly,  and  in  no  other 
has  it  given  greater  returns  to  those  engaged  in 
it;  but  with  advancing  civilization,  increasing 
population  and  rapidly  growing  competition,  the 
mass  of  farmers  must  learn  to  rely  more  ou 
mind  than  on  muscle;  to  give  more  importance 
to  knowledge  than  to  mere  physical  strength  ; 
must  grow  to  rely  on  themselves  and  not  on  leg- 
islation, and  look  for  their  profits  to  their  farm 
products  and  not  to  increase  in  the  selling  price  of 
their  land.  I  look  forward  with  hope  to  a  higher 
intelligence,  more  wisely  directed  industry  and 
a  purer  integrity  among  all  farmers  as  the  great 
means  by  which  the  difficulties  and  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  the  general  prosperity  of  the  clans 
may  be  overcome.  I  look  forward  to  the  time 
when  the  farmers  of  all  sections  of  the  country, 
knowing  each  other  better  shall  respect  each 
other  more,  and  work  together  more  harmoni- 
ously and  intelligently,  and,  hence,  more  effi- 
ciently advance  their  common  prosperity. 

In  all  this,  if  it  be  wisely  managed,  the  National 
Agricultural  Congress  may  do  much.  It  is 
young,  but  it  has  reached  a  position  of  which 
we  have  no  need  to  be  ashamed.  We  who  are 
here  may  make  this  Centennial  year  the  starting 
point  of  a  career  of  vastly  increased  usefulness 
for  this  association  which  has  called  us  together, 
and  give  it  an  impulse  that  shall  cause  it  to  be 
still  young  and  vigorous  at  the  second  centen- 
nial of  our  country. 


21 


USES  OF  AGRICULTURAL  STA- 
TISTICS. 


By  JOHN  R.  DODGE. 


In  this  age  of  the  world  it  can  scarcely  be  nec- 
essary seriously  to  ask  the  question,  What  profit 
te  there  in  Agricultural  Statistics?  There  is  no 
farmer  of  intelligence  who  is  not  himself  a  sta- 
tistician. He  observes  carefully  the  facts  of  ag- 
riculture, and  of  all  science  and  art  applicable 
to  agriculture,  classifies  them  and  makes  deduc- 
tions from  them,  and  governs  his  practical 
operations  in  accordance  with  their  teaching. 
He  plows  and  sows,  reaps  and  mows,  harvests 
and  stores  and  sells  with  the  aid  of  his  own  sys- 
tem of  agricultural  statistics.  But  his  own  ob- 
servation or  desultory  investigation  must  be 
quite  too  limited  I  The  facts  which  affect  him 
are  not  confined  to  his  farm,  his  county,  state  or 
country,  but  include  in  their  range  the  entire 
world— the  world  of  agricultural  production  and 
consumption,  supply  and  demand,  price  and 
value,  freight  and  sale.  In  this  age  of  telegraphs, 
too,  the  statistician  must  not  only  be  ubiquitous 
in  locality,  but  instantaneous  in  celerity  of  col- 
lection, classification  and  deduction.  Herein 
lies  the  necessity  of  professional  statisticians, 
whose  function  it  is  to  reduce  the  truths  con- 
tained in  a  world  of  facts  to  order,  to  make  of 
agricultural  statistics  a  science. 

The  uses  of  this  science  are  golden  in  immedi- 
ate result.  The  cunning  tradesman,  alert  for 
crop  news,  scans  the  prospect  and  prepares  to 
wrench  from  the  farmer  the  results  of  his  hard 
labor.  Statistics  stands  guard  over  the  farmer's 
interest,  foils  the  schemes  of  the  speculator  and 
saves  the  producer's  money.  A  farmer  in  Mis- 
souri writes  me  that  my  advice  relative  to  pros- 
pective prices  of  pork  saved  him  a  thousand 
dollars  in  a  single  season.  The  speculating  class 
is  organized  for  the  plunder  of  the  farmer,  and 
the  necessity  is  imminent  for  the  earliest  and 
fullest  information  for  his  protection. 

By  agricultural  statistics  the  farmer  is  able  to 
compare  and  test  the  practieal  results  of  stock 
improvement,  experiment  in  culture,  and  sys- 
tems of  agriculture.  By  it  he  can  refute  the 
universal  applicability  of  the  sweeping  commer- 
cial adage,  which  is  deemed  by  many  a  law,  that 
the  home  price  of  a  product  is  always  governed 
by  the  ruling  price  in  the  country  to  which  it  is 
exported.  Our  corn  crop  is  too  heavy,  both  in 
avoirdupois  and  in  cash,  to  yield  perceptibly  to 
the  influence  of  foreign  demand.  Until  recently 
the  exports  have  not  exceeded  three  per  cent. 
The  tail  cannot  "  wag  the  dog"  so  easily.  It  is 
curious  to  see  how  uniformly  and  proportion- 
ally price  advances  as  production  recedes.  In 
1874  we  had  a  so-called  failure  in  the  corn  crop. 
I  estimate  it  at  850,000,000  bushels.  In  1875  the 
aggregate  was  enormous.  I  make  it  more  than 
1,300,000,000,  and  yet  the  value  of  the  great  crop 
was  but  one  per  cent,  greater  than  that  of  the 


"  failure"— the  one  $555,000,000,  the  other  $650,- 
000,000. 

As  to  wheat  a  different  rule  obtains.  The  price 
does  not  depend  primarily  and  principally  on 
quantity.  With  poor  European  harvests  a  large 
crop  may  bring  a  high  price— with  abundance 
abroad,  a  small  crop  at  home,  if  it  leaves  a  sur- 
plus, may  bear  a  comparatively  low  price. 

Statistics  teaches  also  the  true  value  and  tem- 
porary uses  of  pioneer  farming,  of  the  produc- 
tion of  specialties  and  the  true  value  "  in  the 
long  run,"  for  permanent  results,  of  rational, 
scientific,  restorative  agriculture.  There  are 
problems  presented  daily  which  only  agricult- 
ural statistics  can  solve,  and  upon  which  largely 
depends  the  future  prosperity  of  the  farming 
interest.  We  cannot  here  enumerate  them,  but 
a  reference  to  one  or  two  may  suffice.  The  en- 
quiry has  been  often  made  of  late,  is  PRODUC- 
TION DECLINING  ?  It  has  been  assumed  that  we 
produce  in  proportion  to  population  less  of  the 
great  staples  of  production  than  formerly.  It  is 
the  province  of  agricultural  statistics  to  decide 
the  question.  The  census  alone  cannot  deter- 
mine it.  Such  is  the  fluctuation  in  rate  of  yield 
that  the  supply  of  a  given  staple  may  be  actually 
increasing,  while  the  product  of  the  census  year 
may  be  less  than  in  its  predecessor  ten  years  be- 
fore. For  instance,  corn  for  1869  was  returned 
760,944,549  bushels,  and  in  1859  the  figures  were 
838,792,742.  It  has  often  been  asserted,  on  the 
strength  of  these  returns,  that  corn  production 
was  declining,  not  only  per  capita,  but  in  abso- 
lute comparison  of  quantity.  Is  it  so  ?  The  year 
1869  witnessed  what  in  country  parlance  is  called 
a  "failure"  of  the  corn  crop.  It  is  plainly  folly 
to  take  such  a  crop  for  comparison.  And  this 
fact  illustrates  the  absolute  necessity  of  annual 
estimates,  to  supplement  decennial  returns. 
Since  1869  there  have  been  six  harvests  exclusive 
of  the  present  one.  Of  these  six  the  largest  and 
smallest  stand  in  juxtaposition,  the  one  in  1875^ 
the  largest  ever  made  is  1,321,000,000  bushels,  and 
the  other,  another  failure  in  1874,  850,000,000 
bushels.  The  increase  in  a  single  year  is  fifty-sir 
per  cent.  In  1870  and  1872  the  product  was  near- 
ly 1,100,000,000.  The  average  of  annual  estimates, 
for  1  he  six  years  since  the  census,  1,047,000,000 
bushels ;  and  this  confirms  the  opinion  founded 
on  careful  study  of  the  history  of  cropping  in 
1869,  that  it  was  scarcely  more  than  three-fourths 
of  a  full  crop.  Now  let  us  examine  a  period  of 
twenty-six  years.  We  find  that  the  yield  per 
capita  in  1849  was  25.5  bushels;  in  1859,  26.6  bush- 
els, and  in  1869,  the  year  of  a  three-fourths  crop, 
19.7  bushels— the  same  result  as  that  deduced 
from  the  period  since  that  census.  If  we  take 
the  year  1875,  the  result  is  excessive,  30  bushels 
per  capita,  but  include  it  in  the  period  of  six 
years  past  and  we  have  25.5— precisely  the  supply 
of  1849. 

As  to  wheat,  a  general  deduction  from  com- 
parison of  census  exhibits  is  less  erroneous.  The 
increase  in  round  numbers  was  from  100,000,000 
to  173,000,000  and  again  in  1869  to  287,000.000.  Now 


the  latter  was  a  large  crop,  yet  the  average  for 
the  six  subsequent  crops  is  266,000,000,  while  the 
estimate  for  the  last  year  of  the  six  was  292,000,- 
000.  Distributed  according  to  population,  there 
was  4.3  bushels  per  head.in  1849  ;  5.5  in  1859 ;  7.46 
in  1869,  and  for  the  period  since  6.6  bushels.  This 
shows  an  increase  of  more  than  fifty  per  cent,  in 
the  proportion  of  supply  in  twenty- six  years, 
and  is  exactly  in  accordance  with  the  history  of 
the  several  crop  years,  and  is  a  proof  of  the  sub- 
stantial correctness  of  these  estimates. 

The  export  figures  illustrate  further  the  fact 
of  the  large  increase  of  wheat  production.  The 
total  export  of  wheat  and  Hour  in  fifty  years  is 
equivalent  to  1,062,000,000  bushels  of  wheat,  of 
which  91,000,OOU  were  shipped  during  a  single 
year,  1874.  The  exports  of  one-half  of  this  period 
up  to  1850,  were  only  178,000,000— Jess  than  twice 
those  of  1874.  The  heavy  increase  during  recent 
years  is  especially  noteworthy,  nearly  half  this 
semi-centennial  aggregate  having  been  shipped 
in  ten  years.  While  our  population  has  nearly 
doubled  since  1849,  the  quantity  of  all  cereals 
taken  together  has  more  than  doubled.  The 
census  reported  867,000,000  bushels;  allowing 
something  for  incompleteness  of  that  enumera- 
tion, the  2,000,000,000  bushels  produced  in  1875 
allow  a  distribution  of  46  bushels  to  each  inhab- 
itant, in  place  of  37.4  census  bushels,  or  possibly 
40  with  a  complete  enumeration.  Our  average 
supply  since  the  last  census  exceeds  40  bushels : 
and  thus  is  demonstrated  the  remarkable  fact 
that  with  our  rapid  increase  in  numbers,  per- 
haps without  a  parallel,  we  not  only  keep  up  our 
high  standard  of  cereal  production  but  actually 
advance  it.  This  is  owing  to  our  vast  areas  in 
instant  readiness  for  the  plow,  to  our  advance 
in  variety  and  perfection  of  agricultural  ma- 
chinery, and  to  the  stimulus  of  a  foreign  de- 
mand which  has  never  been  so  pressing  as  dur- 
ing the  last  ten  years.  It  is  possible  to  double 
our  present  population  without  diminishing 
this  high  rate  of  supply.  There  is  more  danger 
at  present  of  over-production  and  unremunera- 
tive  prices,  than  of  scarcity.  The  proportion 
engaged  in  agriculture  in  the  West  is  still  too 
large,  and  far  too  large  in  the  Sou^h,  and  the 
withdrawal  of  workers  from  rural  to  other  in- 
dustrial arts  would  not  only  greatly  facilitate 
the  creation  of  wealth,  but  would  siiniulate  in- 
vention, labor-saving  skill  and  industry  in  agri- 
culture. 

Having  reached  the  conclusion  that  corn  pro- 
duction is  not  declining,  aud  that  the  supply  of 
wheat  has  increased  fifty  per  cent.,  what  can  we 
say  as  to  the  meat  supply  and  the  numbers  of 
horses?  As  to  the  latter,  it  is  not  found,  ac- 
cording to  the  fears  of  too  conservative  farmers 
of  a  former  generation,  that  multiplying  rail- 
roads tends  to  diminish  the  use  of  horses.  More 
horses  are  now  used  in  taking  people  to  the 
train  than  were  formerly  required  to  perform 
the  whole  journey.  The  census  reports  only  the 
horses  of  the  farm,  without  reference  to  those 


of  the  town  or  city,  but  for  comparison,  taking 
the  numbers  in  proportion  to  population,  there 
were  nearly  twenty  to  each  one  hundred  people 
in  1850,  quite  twenty  in  1860,  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  waste  of  the  war,  eighteen  in  1870.  The 
increase  since  has  at  least  equaled  the  advance 
in  population.  Coming  to  cattle,  while  we  know 
that  the  numbers  in  the  census  are  too  low,  es- 
pecially for  Texas,  California  and  the  Territories, 
we  may  use  them  for  comparison  purposes, 
From  1850  to  1860  we  find  the  number  of  all  kinds 
of  cattle  slightly  increasing,  from  77  to  81  to 
each  hundred  of  the  population,  and  then  wit- 
ness a  decline  to  62  in  1870.  Since  that  date  the 
numbers  have  increased,  but  not  materially 
faster  that  the  population.  The  consumption  in 
the  war  was  a  prominent  cause  of  the  decline, 
and  a  growing  preference  to  horses  as  a  substi- 
tute for  working  oxen  tended  to  further  reduc- 
tion. The  supply  of  sheep  per  capita  was  some- 
what greater  in  1870  than  in  1860,  the  ratio  rising 
from  70  to  73,  but  less  than  in  1850,  when  there 
were  93  per  hundred  of  population.  But  the 
most  marked  decline  in  supply  has  been  in 
swine,  the  figures  in  these  decennial  periods 
being  respectively  129, 105  and  65.  The  tendency 
is  to  still  further  decline  in  some  of  the  princi- 
pal swine  districts. 

There  is  another  statistical  point  of  especial 
interest  in  this  connection.  While  numbers  have 
declined  in  proportion  to  population  the  value 
of  all  farm  animals  divided  among  the  popula- 
tion would  give  about  $24  per  head  in  1850,  $34 
m  1860,  and  $44  in  1870.  Not  only  has  scarcity 
increased  the  value,  but  improvements  in  breeds 
has  added  size  and  weight,  so  that  with  smaller 
relative  numbers  we  are  able  to  feed  our  people 
and  ship  more  beef  and  pork  and  lard  than  ever. 
Here  is  food  for  reflection.  Here  is  the  cause  of 
advancing  prices  of  beef  and  pork.  And  it  is 
fortunate  that  increase  in  meat  production  is 
consonant  with  a  higher  and  more  intensive  ag- 
riculture; that  it  is  in  fact  one  of  the  essential 
conditions  of  such  improvement.  And  if  we  can 
act  upon  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Harris  in  his  ad- 
dress last  evening,  and  perfect  breeds  of  meat- 
producers  that  shall  be  able  to  assimilate  a  larger 
proportion  of  the  fat-and-meat  producing  ele- 
ments contained  in  the  food  supplied,  we  shall 
hasten  the  adoption  of  a  system  of  agriculture 
that  shall  be  restorative  and  not  exhaustive. 

We  thus  learn  from  statistics  that  grain-grow- 
ing exclusively,  though  remunerative  as  a  tem- 
porary expedient,  is  a  speculation  and  not  true 
farming.  Land  in  the  prairies  worth  $50  per 
acre  is  bought  for  $5,  and  its  true  value  is  dis- 
counted in  installments;  i.  6.  the  soil  is  plun- 
dered piecemeal  and  converted  into  wheat  and 
cash,  to  furnish  means  for  fencing  and  house- 
building, and  to  supply  capital  to  the  pioneer 
farmer.  In  this  point  of  view  it  has  been  remu- 
nerative as  a  pioneer  expedient,  but  with  a  farm 
equipped  for  the  work  of  a  long  future,  the  su- 
perior profit  of  a  restorative  system  in  which 


domestic  animals  fill  an  important  part  cannot 
be  questioned,  either  in  the  deep  prairies  of  Illi- 
nois or  the  rich  bottoms  of  the  Missouri  valley. 

We  are  in  a  transit'on  period.  The  influence 
of  Western  lands  has  modified  Eastern  agricult- 
ure, levied  upon  its  best  exemplars,  discouraged 
the  routine  plodders  who  could  not  change  their 
crops  or  their  system,  and  driven  the  energetic 
to  higher  culture  and  cropping  less  subject  to 
Western  competition.  In  the  future  there  is  to 
be  a  higher  price  for  Eastern  lands,  more  money 
and  labor  and  profit  in  working  them,  and  a  class 
of  farmers  who  shall  combine  with  hand-work 
more  of  head-work. 

In  further  consideration  of  mathematics  ap- 
plied to  our  agriculture,  let  us  briefly  consider 
the  peculiar  status  of 

THE  SOUTHERN  INDUSTRIAL   SYSTEM. 

Statistics  teach  the  cotton  grower  that  an  in- 
crease of  a  million  bales  may  diminish  the  value 
of  the  crop  by  forty  million  dollars,  [t  decides 
in  the  negative  the  question  whether  ten  states 
can  get  rich  on  a  production  which  averages 
only  $25  to  $30  for  each  inhabitant  in  gross,  and 
less  than  $5  in  net  profit  to  each.  The  one-idea 
rule  is  bad  enough  in  farming ;  but  it  matters 
less  that  one's  eggs  are  all  in  one  basket,  than  that 
his  basket  carries  eggs  enough  to  purchase  bread 
for  his  family.  To  enrich  the  cotton  region,  the 
simple  necessity  exists  for  farm  production  of 
at  least  five  times  the  possible  income  from  the 
whole  cotton  crop.  With  industry,  diversity, 
and  a  soil  fertilized  with  brains,  there  is  now 
labor  enough  easily  to  realize  such  a  result. 
When  tradition,  routine  and  overseeing  yield 
control  to  science,  machinery  and  efficient  labor, 
it  will  be  accomplished.  The  energy  wasted  in 
producing  twelve  hundred  thousand  additional 
bales  of  cotton,  which  are  not  only  given  away, 
but  actually  diminish  the  value  of  the  remain- 
der by  $45,000,000  as  in  1070,  is  worthy  of  a  higher 
reward.  Rightly  directed,  as  in  manufacturing 
a  quantity  equal  to  that  thrown  away,  it  would 
have  doubled  the  money  returns  of  the  cotton 
Industry. 

It  should  be  a  statistical  lesson  of  easy  ap- 
plication, that  the  crop  of  1875,  nearly  equaling 
that  of  1860,  and  the  largest  of  recent  years, 
bears  the  lowest  price  and  aggregates  the  small- 
est value  of  any  since  that  date.  Should  the 
lesson  not  be  fully  learned  ?  let  the  planters  pon- 
der a  problem  in  proportion.  If  a  crop  of  two 
million  bales  in  1865  is  forty-three  cents  per 
pound,  and  one  of  four  and  a  half  millions  in 
1875  brings  only  twelve  cents,  what  will  be  the 
price  of  seven  million  bales  in  1885  ? 

Statistics  have  thoroughly  exploded  the  idea 
of  abject  inter-independence,  by  which  one  sec- 
tion was  to  grow  nothing  but  cotton,  another 
corn  exclusively,  and  a  third  only  pumpkins  and 
potatoes,  while  an  army  of  transporters  and  a 
legion  of  traders  should  eat  and  drink  up  and 
wear  out  agricultural  production  in  transits 
and  so  promote  good  fellowship  and  illustrate 


the  freedom  and  thriftiness  of  trade  and  the 
long  suffering  of  the  producing  Granger  I 

The  South  has  taken  one  side  of  this  question; 
California  the  other.  The  South  is  old,  Cali- 
fornia is  young ;  but  the  census  estimates  of 
rural  earnings  per  man  is  $266  for  the  land  of 
cotton,  and  $1042  for  the  land  of  gold.  Of  this 
$266,  cotton  in  1869  yielded  $118  to  each  man  en- 
gaged in  agriculture  in  the  Cotton  States.  The 
occidental  shore  was  far  away,  beyond  a  high 
and  rocky  barrier,  and  self-possession  compelled 
self-feeding;  the  large  proportion  of  workers 
engaged  in  mining  created  profitable  markets, 
and  ambitious  thrift  demanded  further  produc- 
tion for  exportation,  which  became  a  surplus 
for  saving,  not  a  fund  to  be  transformed  into 
"  hog  and  hominy"  and  eaten  in  advance  I  In- 
stead of  expected  semi-starvation  while  flour 
was  floating  around  the  Horn,  five  times  the 
requisite  home  supply  can  be  shipped  to  the 
starving  of  Europe ;  wines  are  forwarded  by 
car  loads  to  New  York,  are  there  slightly  modi- 
fled  to  imitate  the  color  and  flavor  of  foreign 
vintages,  and  sold  at  a  marvelous  advance  un- 
der European  names  ;  and  fruits  and  wool  and 
other  exports  increase  the  hoard  of  the  hus- 
bandman of  the  Pacific  coast. 

California  has  imported  little,  except  to  satis- 
fy the  lavish  extravagance  of  the  rich,  and  has 
sent  much  of  her  rural  production  abroad.  She 
has  sought  out  and  utilized  her  resources  more 
actively  and  perse veringly  than  any  other  state, 
and  has  illustrated  strikingly  the  benefits  which 
result  from  a  practical  union  of  the  several 
productive  industries.  The  South,  on  the  con- 
trary, with  every  variety  of  soil  and  climate, 
has  discouraged  variety  in  agricultural  produc- 
tion, neglected  ores  like  those  of  Pennsylvania, 
coals  equal  to  the  beds  of  Ohio,  water-power 
unsurpassed  in  New  England.  She  has  spurned 
the  lavished  gifts  of  God  and  the  skill  and  labor 
of  man,  while  courting  the  selfish  advances  of 
foreign  trade,  and  hopelessly  seeking  riches  by 
swapping  cotton  for  everything  spontaneously 
produced  by  nature  or  laboriously  wrought  by 
human  skill.  Had  her  skies  been  less  genial, 
her  clouds  less  wonderfully  propitious,  and  her 
soil  a  little  unkind,  famine  and  bankruptcy 
would  long  since  have  claimed  a  country  wed- 
ded to  a  false  system  of  economy  and  rural  prac- 
tice. 

There  are  signs  that  a  new  day  is  dawning; 
with  self-dependence,  home  markets,  more 
labor  better  directed,  and  profitable  use  found 
for  every  mineral,  tree  and  plant,  as  well  as 
every  human  capacity,  a  new  El  Dorado  will 
appear  to  compete  with  the  golden  West  I 

In  this  criticism  upon  so  exclusive  devotion  to 
a  single  specialty  of  an  industry  followed  to 
the  exclusion  of  all  others,  let  me  not  be  mis- 
understood. Nowhere  else  in  our  country  are 
the  intelligence  and  culture  of  the  couimuniry 
so  generally  employed  in  agriculture.  No 
other  farmers  can  so  successfully  cultivate 
their  favorite  staple.  Nowhere  is  agricultural 


discussion  so  popular  and  genial.  And  their 
wisest  leaders,  neither  few  nor  unappreciated, 
have  long  been  teaching  a  similar  doctrine, 
which  has  never  been  impeached  by  any,  and 
yet  has  been  left  by  each  to  his  neighbor  to 
practice  until  a  very  recent  date.  May  these 
wise  counsels  hereafter  receive  practical  as  well 
as  theoretical  assent. 

STATISTICS  OP  THE  CENTENNIAL. 

A  statistical  view  of  this  great  exhibition  ie 
fullof  suggestion  and  encouragement  to  farmers, 
directly  in  the  wonderful  progress  unfolded  in 
the  variety  and  perfection  of  labor  saving  ag- 
ricultural machinery,  and  indirectly  in  the 
marvelous  advance  in  other  branches  of  indus- 
trial art,  which  furnish  the  home  markets  that 
make  the  farmer's  prices  in  part  and  his  profits 
in  still  larger  proportion.  The  machines  that 
did  the  work  of  a  million  farmers  absent  in  the 
field  of  war,  were  not  ia  existence  ten  years 
before,  and  the  past  ten  years  have  been  equal- 
ly prolific  in  the  multiplication  and  perfecting 
of  implements  of  agriculture,  until  they  have 
overflowed  our  own  markets  and  flowed  forth 
by  cargoes  to  fill  the  markets  of  Europe,  South 
America,  Africa  even,  and  the  islands  of  the 
world's  great  ocean.  Fifteen  years  ago  this  Cen- 
tennial display  of  American  manufactures  would 
have  been  impossible,  the  fine  woolens,  the  car- 
pets, the  cutlery,  the  glass  and  porcelain  wares, 
having  been  mainly  the  creation  of  this  propiti- 
ous period  of  large  demand  and  stable  legisla- 
tion. The  benefit  of  this  development  to  ag- 
riculture and  the  national  welfare  and  credit, 
has  been  incalculable,  a  development  that  has 
given  steady  work  and  high  wages  to  all  indus- 
trial labor,  and  whiqh  put  away  for  full  five 
years  the  day  of  panic  and  monetary  depression, 
which  was  the  legitimate  result  of  over-impor- 
tation and  reckless  speculation.  It  has  enriched 
the  country  by  hundreds  of  millions,  and  has 
been  the  natural  ally  of  agriculture,  as  unpro- 
ductive speculative  occupation  has  been  its 
enemy  and  bane. 

Before  closing  this  brief  line  of   remark,  I 
would  suggest  as  a  preliminary  to   improve 
ments  in  the  collection  of  agricultural  data  cer- 
tain 

STATISTICAL    DESIDERATA 

For  the  perfection  of  statistical  investiga- 
tion, greater  accuracy  and  higher  utility  in  the 
results,  there  are  many  pressing  requirements, 
among  which  the  following  are  prominent : 

1.  A  higher  popular  appreciation  of  the  utility 
of  statistics,  a  habit  of  more  careful  obser- 
vation and  accurate  report. 

2.  Earnest  inculcation  by  the  press  of  the  im- 
portance of  systematic  records   of  fact,    and 
greater  precision  and  conscientiousness  in  re- 
porting them  for  publication. 

3.  In  industrial  associations,  greater  patience 
and  persistence  in  statistical  effort,  and  more 
cure  In  avoiding  erroneous  judgments  and  im- 


pulsive utterances,  so  naturally  resulting  from 
bias  of  self-interest. 

4.  In  state  legislation,  a  wise  and  uniform  pro- 
vision for  the  best  attainable  system  of  statis- 
tical collection. 

6.  In  national  legislation,  higher  appreciation 
of  the  great  necessity  and  economy  of  early 
and  accurate  information  concerning  produc- 
tion and  distribution,  and  a  wiser  and  more 
liberal  provision  for  the  perfection  of  statistical 
methods. 

There  is  yet  a  small  portion  of  the  rural  popu- 
lation refusing,  through  ignorance  and  preju- 
dice, to  reveal  the  extent  of  their  productions. 
In  reporting  original  data  there  is  frequently  a 
hasty  jumping  at  conclusions  and  carelessness 
of  statement  prejudicial  to  accuracy,  requir- 
ing a  cultivation  of  patience  and  the  exercise  of 
mature  judgment.  The  organization  of  State 
Bureaus  of  agricultural  statistics  cannot  be  de- 
manded too  strenuously,  or  persistently,  and 
the  delegates  of  this  Congress  are  urged  not  to 
cease  individual  efforts  to  this  end  in  every 
state  hitherto  recreant  to  its  interests  and  duty 
in  this  regard.  Scarcely  more  than  half  a  dozen 
states  are  now  attempting  systematic  and  regu- 
lar work.  In  the  South  there  is  but  one,  Geor- 
gia, that  has  made  a  good  beginning ;  and  she  is 
appropriating  for  the  collection  of  agricultural 
statistics  a  sum  as  large  as  the  present  Congress 
of  United  States  has  provided  for  a  similar 
purpose  for  thirty-eight  States  and  ten  Terri- 
tories. 

And  here  let  me  urge  a  vital  point.  See  that 
you  elect  to  Congress  fewer  lawyers  and  more 
representatives  of  great  industries.  Elect  men 
intelligent  in  practical  affairs,  wise  in  measures 
tending  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  coun- 
try, well  indoctrinated  in  political  economy,  and 
as  representatives  more  interested  in  the  pub- 
lic welfare  than  in  their  own. 

The  failures  of  the  past  in  legislation  for 
statistical  investigation  have  been  lamentable. 
Every  man  of  intelligence  knew  the  absolute 
necessity  for  a  radically  amended  law  for  taking 
the  Census  of  1870.  Much  time  was  spent  in 
maturing  a  bill,  and  Gen.  Garfleld  and  others  in 
Congress  were  efficient  in  urging  it,  but  the 
time  of  its  discussion  was  mainly  spent  upon 
purely  political  features,  such  as  the  basis  of 
Congressional  representation,  and  it  was  aban- 
doned, and  the  old  and  imperfect  law  was  re- 
enacted  with  slight  alteration.  Without  recount- 
ing in  detail  the  failures,  allow  me  to  express  re- 
gret for  the  meagre  dole  to  agricultural  sta- 
tistics by  the  present  Congress.  For  collecting 
statistics  in  forty-eight  States  and  Territories, 
for  clerical  work  in  recording  and  compiling  the 
same  in  the  home  office,  for  records  of  domes- 
tic boards  of  trade  and  of  agriculture,  for 
transcripts  and  translations  of  foreign  "official 
reports  and  records  of  industrial  organizations, 
for  statistical  statements  and  even  special  inves- 
tigations for  committees  and  members  of  both 


Houses  of  Congress,  for  transcripts  of  official 
recordafer  foreign  governments  and  home  so- 
cieties, for  employment  of  experts  in  special 
investigations,  for  writing  matter  for  monthly 
and  annual  and  special  reports,  the  sum  of  ten 
thousand  dollars  is  appropriated,  not  enough  to 
pay  the  one  item  for  routine  work  of  record 
and  tabulation !  Without  straw,  without  even 
clay,  statistical  brick  making  is  thus  required  I 
And  yet  the  annual  report,  a  fractional  part  of 
this  indicated  work  which  is  thus  placed  on  star- 
vation diet,  is  deemed  worthy  of  publication  to 
the  extent  of  three  hundred  thousand  copies, 
and  an  appropriation  of  $130,000  ia  made  for  its 
publication.  "  Such  is  legislative  economy—  "sav- 
ing at  the  spigot."  It  is  the  wisdom  of  a  bread- 
maker  who  would  save  his  yeast  only  to  spoil 
his  flour.  It  is  a  feast  of  cheese-parings  supple- 
mented with  a  champagne  supper.  While  $130,- 
000  is  for  volumes  for  Congressional  distribu- 
tion, and  $60,000  is  for  seeds  and  plants  similarly 
distributed,  $10,000  is  deemed  enough  for  the 
division  charged  with  the  most  onerous  and 
important  work  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture. In  addition  to  this  stroke  of  economy, 
reduction  of  the  Department  printing  fund  will 
necessitate  the  stoppage  of  the  monthly  report 
with  the  November  number.  Better  infinitely 
than  such  crippling  and  dwarfing  of  the  work 
of  investigation  required  by  the  organic  act 
creating  the  Department,  to  cut  off  all  appro- 
priations except  for  seeds  and  plants  and  run  the 
institution  exclusively  as  a  seed  store,  or  else 
abolish  it  altogether.  Yet  we  ought  to  expect 
in  this  day  of  progress,  legislative  action  for  the 
public  weal  and  national  improvement,  on  a 
high  plane  for  the  public  good  alone,  increase  of 
national  production,  advancement  of  intelli- 
gence and  skill,  and  enhancement  of  general 
comfort  and  happiness. 

In  conclusion  allow  me  to  express  the  hope 
that  the  "Agricultural  Congress"  may  be 
prominently  instrumental,  in  the  present  and 
in  the  future,  in  stimulating  a  desire  for  practi- 
cal knowledge  among  the  rural  population,  in 
disseminating  wise  views  of  agricultural  meth- 
ods and  systems,  and  in  increasing  the  wealth 
Mid  happiness  of  its  great  constituency. 


AGRICULTURAL  REFORM. 


By  THOS.  P.  JANES,  M.  D. 


Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  National 
Agricultural  Congress:— I  have  been  at  a  loss  to 
know  why  your  President  invited  me  to  address 
you,  unless  acting  on  the  idea  that "  necessity  is 
the  mother  of  invention,"  he  hoped  that  I  might 
be  the  bearer  of  some  novel  thoughts,  the  off- 
spring of  the  necessitous,  struggling  condition 
of  my  people.  If  this  was  his  expectation,  I  fear 
he  must  content  himself  with  disappointment. 
It  is  true  that  we  have  for  the  last  decade  strug- 
gled up  from  the  ashes  of  despair  through  the 
most  adverse  circumstances. 

The  land-owners  of  the  South  were  left  in 
1865  as  the  captain  of  a  vessel  after  a  storm  in 
mid-sea,  without  rudder  or  compass,  with  even 
his  sailors  overboard,  and  his  supplies  exhausted. 
By  a  single  stroke  of  the  Executive  pen  two- 
thirds  of  the  entire  taxable  property  of  the  South 
was  destroyed,  and  the  productive  power  of  the 
remainder  seriously  impaired. 

In  Georgia  alone,  the  taxable  property  was  re- 
duced $500,000,000  in  forty-eight  hours.  These 
facts  are  mentioned  in  no  spirit  of  complaint  or 
reproach,  but  simply  as  a  matter  of  history  to 
illustrate  our  condition  at  the  beginning  of  the 
last  decade,  and  to  show  that  we  have  been 
"practicing"  for  ten  years  what  I  propose  to 
"preach"  to-day. 

I  invite  your  attention  to  a  few  thoughts  and 
suggestions  on  the  subject  of 

AGRICULTURAL  REFORM. 

I  will  discuss  it  under  the  three  leading  heads: 
Individual,  State  and  National. 

As  the  aggregation  of  individual  citizens  con- 
stitutes a  state  politically,  so  the  aggregation  of 
the  accumulations  of  individual  wealth  consti- 
tutes the  material  body  politic  of  the  state. 

Without  a  pure,  conservative,  patriotic  citi 
zenship,  good  government  is  impossible. 

Without  economy,  system,  and  industry  in  the 
individual,  state  or  national  prosperity  is  equally 
impossible. 

In  a  government  like  ours  the  material  pros- 
perity and  resulting  contentment  of  the  individ- 
ual is  indispensable  not  only  to  the  advancement 
of  the  state  in  material  wealth  and  greatness, 
but  to  her  political,  moral  and  religious  purity. 

The  material  prosperity  of  the  individual  being 
the  corner-stone  of  national  greatness,  his  ad- 
vancement morally,  intellectually  and  materially 
becomes  a  question  of  vital  moment,  and  should 
command  the  most  careful  attention  of  the 
statesman  and  patriot. 

The  agricultural  portion  of  every  community 
constitutes  its  most  conservative  element  be- 
cause of  their  attachment  to  the  soil,  their  isola- 
tion and  consequent  removal  from  the  corrupt- 
ing influences  of  trade,  and  the  ennobling  influ- 
ence of  their  constant  association  with  the  de- 


26 


vrelopments  ot  God's  will  expressed  in  the  works 
of  nature. 

It  is  from  this  usually  conservative,  contented 
class,  principally,  that  we  hear  now  the  cry  of 
reform. 

Why  is  this  ?  Is  it  due  solely  to  maladministra- 
tion and  corruption  in  official  circles  ?  Is  it  due  to 
defects  in  the  financial  system  of  the  country? 
Is  it  due  to  the  failure  of  the  general  govern- 
ment to  afford  by  internal  improvements  proper 
facilities  for  the  cheap  transportation  of  the 
products  of  the  farm  and  the  mine  to  market ; 
or  is  it  due  to  a  failure  of  individuals  to  realize 
changes  of  circumstances  which  necessitate 
changes  of  policy  and  practice  which  have  not 
been  made,  because  of  a  reckless  speculative 
spirit  engendered  by  the  extreme  fluctuations  of 
values  resulting  from  the  late  civil  war?  It  is 
due,  perhaps,  in  part  to  each  one  of  these  causes, 
but  mainly  to  misdirected  individual  enterprise, 
speculative  farming,  and  a  ruinous  credit  system. 
We  are  prone  to  look  abroad  for  faults  and  errors 
rather  than  to  ourselves. 

It  is  useless  to  deny  the  fact  that  a  general 
want  of  thrift  and  consequent  depression  per- 
vade the  tillers  of  the  soil  in  our  country.  They 
are  not  accumulating  money— the  balance  is  too 
often  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  sheet  at  the  end 
ot  the  year's  labor.  A  scarcity  of  money  is  felt 
even  in  the  centres  of  trade.  Its  cause  is  dis- 
cussed in  the  club,  the  Grange  and  on  the  street 
corner.  Its  discussion  has  even  invaded  the 
halls  of  the  National  Congress.  Large  leaks 
have  been  discovered  in  high  official  quarters; 
reckless  expenditures  of  the  peoples'  money 
have  doubtless  been  made.  The  fostering  care 
of  national  and  state  goverments  has  not  been 
sufficiently  devoted  to  the  two  nursing  breasts  of 
the  nation's  wealth,  agriculture  and  mining. 

There  should  be  reform  in  all  of  these  respects 
—these  large  leaks  should  be  stopped,  but  that 
will  not  remedy  the  evils  which  surround  us. 
The  leaks  on  the  farm  must  be  stopped  before 
there  can  be  any  substantial  prosperity  for  in- 
dividual, state  or  nation.  The  farm  must  be 
made  more  than  self-sustaining— the  balance  of 
trade  must  be  in  its  favor. 

To  accomplish  this,  brains  must  control  mus- 
cle, and  machinery  be  substituted  for  the  latter 
whenever  practicable.  Restless,  speculative 
farming  must  be  abandoned  for  a  more  conser- 
vative, frugal  and  cautious  system  conducted 
upon  a  solid  cash  basis. 

Credit  and  high  rates  of  interest  have  been 
and  are  still  the  bane  of  Southern  agriculture. 
Left  in  1865  with  nothing  but  his  land,  the  plant- 
er was  compelled  to  resort  to  the  disastrous  ex- 
pedient of  borrowing  money  at  extortionate 
rates  of  interest  to  defray  the  current  expenses 
of  the  farm.  To  meet  the  demands  of  his  cred- 
tors  he  devoted  his  attention  to  the  production 
of  cotton  as  the  most  marketable  product  to  the 
neglect  of  supply  crops.  This  necessitated  a 
repetition  of  the  same  system  year  after  year, 
which,  with  wasteful,  unreliable  and  uncontrol- 
able  labor  has  been  extremely  difficult  to  discard. 
Indeed,  as  long  as  our  chief  staple  sold  as  high 
as  twenty  cents  per  pound,  some  money  was 
made  even  under  this  unnatural  system.  As 
cotton  fell  in  price,  the  fallacy  of  the  system  of 
purchasing  supplies  with  which  to  make  it,  be- 
came more  and  more  apparent,  and  individuals 
began  to  search  more  diligently  for  the  "  leaks 
on  the  farm." 

The  true  magnitude  of  the  leaks  were  not  fully 
realized  until  they  were  aggregated  by  the  Geor- 
gia State  Department  of  Agriculture,  which 
commenced  its  investigations  during  the  fall  of 
1874.. 

Taking  Georgia  as  a  representative  of  the  Cot- 
ton states,  the  facts  developed  there  demon- 


strate the  necessity  of  reform  in  that  entire 
section.  From  statistics  collected  in  Georgia  we 
find  that  labor  is  forty  per  cent,  less  efficient  than 
it  was  fifteen  years  ago— that  the  average  farm 
laborers  devote  only  4.7  days  of  each  week  to 
their  crops.  This  is  substantiated  by  the  facts  of 
cotton  production  since  that  period;  notwith- 
standing the  natural  increase  in  the  laboring 
population,  and  the  extension  of  the  cotton  area 
by  the  more  extended  use  of  commercial  fertili- 
zers, no  more  cotton  is  produced  now  than  was 
produced  fifteen  years  ago. 

From  partial  railroad  statistics  collected  last 
year,  it  is  estimated  that  the  farmers  of  Georgia 
purchased  on  a  cash  basis  $39,434,013  worth  of 
farm  supplies,  exclusive  of  live  stock,  sugar, 
coffee  and  dry  goods  from  April  1st,  1874  to  the 
same  date  in  1875. 

They  paid  in  interest  on  the  supplies  which 
they  purchased,  four  and  a  quarter  millions  of 
dollars.  They  wasted  in  one  year,  1875,  by  the 
injudicious  purchase  and  use  of  fertilizers,  $2,- 
176,998,  by  paying  from  fifty  to  seventy  dollars 
per  ton  for  commercial  fertilizers  to  be  used 
alone ;  when  an  expenditure  of  ten  dollars  for 
material  necessary  to  make  a  ton  of  compost, 
using  home  manures  in  combination  with  acid 
phosphates  would  produce  better  results  in  pro- 
duction of  crops.  That  is  fully  attested  by  the 
results  of  practical  experiment  and  chemical 
analysis. 

They  have  bought  corn  and  oats  at  more  than 
twice  the  cost  of  raising  them  at  home.  They 
have  bought  horses  and  mules  at  twice  the  cost 
of  raising  them.  All  of  these  were  bought  for 
what?  Why  to  make  cotton  which  brings  on  the 
market  what  it  cost  to  produce  it. 

Was  not  reform  necessary  here,  and  was  not 
the  individual  farm  the  place  to  apply  it?  Never 
in  the  history  of  any  agricultural  people  has  re  - 
form  been  more  earnestly  and  vigorously  applied 
than  by  the  farmers  of  Georgia  to-day.  The 
leaks  on  the  farm  have  been  pointed  out  to  them 
and  they  are  vigorously  applying  the  remedies. 
They  are  using  every  available  means  of  making 
their  farms  self-sustaining.  They  are  cultivating 
less  area  in  cotton,  but  improving  the  prepara- 
tion and  cultivation  of  the  soil  and  cheapening 
fertilization.  They  have  nearly  doubled  the  oat 
crop,  and  largely  increased  the  area  in  corn. 
They  are  giving  more  attention  to  the  produc- 
tion of  clover,  lucerne,  the  grasses  and  other  for- 
age crops,  and  are  devoting  more  attention  to 
raising  stock.  In  no  state  in  the  Union  have 
farmers  advanced  more  rapidly  in  a  knowledge 
of  the  true  principles  of  soil  culture  and  fertili- 
zation than  have  those  of  Georgia  within  the 
last  few  years.  Nowhere  are  they  learning  more 
rapidly  the  application  of  science  to  agriculture. 
Nowhere  are  they  more  determined  to  use  wise- 
ly the  advantantages  of  soil  and  climate  which 
the  God  of  Nature  has  so  bountifully  bestowed 
upon  them. 

Other  Cotton  States  are  not  moving  so  rapidly 
because  they  have  not  used  the  same  instru- 
mentalities for  collecting  and  disseminating  in- 
formation among  their  farmers  ;  but  they  will 
soon  wheel  into  line  and  make  cotton  a  surplus 
crop,  the  proceeds  of  which  may  be  devoted  to 
practical  development  and  productive  enter- 
prise. 

The  South  must  produce  her  supplies  without 
diminishing  her  cotton  crop,  leaving  the  surplus 
grain  of  the  West  to  swell  our  exports  till  com- 
bined with  our  shipments  of  cotton  and  tobacco, 
we  shall  regain  our  foreign  commerce,  turn  the 
balance  of  trade  in  our  favor,  stop  the  exporta- 
tion of  gold  from  our  ports,  and  turning  the  tide 
again  in  this  direction  bring  prosperity  and  con- 
tentment to  all  classes  of  our.  people. 
.  Until  cheaper  transportation  can  be  afforded, 
more  of  the  corn  of  the  Northwest  must  be  put 
into  the  more  compact  form  of  meat,  and  the 
unlimited  water  power  of  the  South  must,  as  it 
inevitably  will  in  a  quarter  of  a  century,  be  util- 


27 


ized  to  convert  our  raw  material  into  yarns  and 
thus  double  the  value,  and  hence  contribute 
double  the  amount  towards  re-establishing  the 
balance  of  trade  in  our  favor. 

There  is  water  power  enough  in  Georgia  alone 
to  manufacture  all  of  the  cotton  and  wool  pro- 
duced in  the  U.  S.  The  f  ollowing  are  some  of 
the  most  important,  reported  by  Dr.  Geo.  Little, 
State  Geologist: 

The  Chattahooche  river  falls  106  feet  in  3  miles 
and  gives  at  Columbus,  30,000  horse  power,  of 
which  only  850  are  used.  One  of  its  tributaries, 
Mulberry  creek,  affords  387  H.  P. 

The  Savannah  river  furnishes  the  canal  at 
Augusta  with  12,000  H.  P.  One  of  its  tributaries, 
Briar  Creek,  gives  515  H.  P. 

The  Oconee,  with  its  tributaries  in  Clarke  Co,, 
near  Athens,  gives  over  3,000  H.  P. 

The  Ocmulgee  between  the  Georgia  Railroad 
and  the  city  of  Macon,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles, 
affords  36,000  H.  P.;  and  its  tributary,  Yellow 
river,  7,000  H.  P. 

The  Coosawathe,  a  tributary  of  the  Coosa  river, 
at  one  point  in  Gordon  county,  gives  nearly  2,500 

Eight  streams  furnish  at  their  principal  falls, 
91,302  H.  P.,  of  which  but  little  is  used,  leaving 
nearly  the  whole  of  this  vast  power  to  run  riot 
to  the  sea,  murmuring,  as  it  goes,  at  man's  ne- 
glectful waste  of  Nature's  forces. 

Georgia  spins  but  little  more  than  ten  per  cent 
of  her  cotton.  She  loses  annually  $25,000,000  by 
not  spinning  the  whole.  The  Cotton  States 
would  receive  $250,000,000  more  for  their  crop  if 
it  was  sold  as  yarn,  than  they  do  by  selling  the 
raw  material. 

We  of  the  South  are  far  behind  our  Northern 
and  Western  brethren  in  the  introduction  of 
labor-saving  implements  and  machinery,  and 
consequently  all  more  dependent  upon  expen- 
sive and  unreliable  human  muscle  for  our  farm 
labor.  The  difficulties  of  the  Western  farmers 
rest  more  in  the  lack  of  cheap  transportation  to 
the  sea  than  in  misapplied  energy  and  misdirec- 
ted labor.  They  have  diversified  their  farming 
to  the  full  extent  admissible  iu  their  climate. 
Not  so  in  the  South.  With  a  soil  and  climate 
susceptible  of  almost  endless  diversity  of  cult- 
ure and  products,  her  farmers  have  relied  main- 
ly upon  one  market  product,  which  in  conse- 
quence of  a  failure  to  produce  provision  crops, 
is  sold  without  nett  profit. 

Georgia  and  Indiana  have  nearly  the  same 
population.  Let  us  compare  their  material 
wealth  and  see  what  are  the  principal  items  of 
difference  in  the  wealth  ot  the  two  states.  Geor- 
gia had  in  farms  in  1870,  23,647,941  acres.  Indiana 
had  18,120,648  acres.  Georgia  had  on  these  farms 
only  6,831,856  acres  improved,  while  Indiana  had 
10,104,270  improved.  The  Georgia  farms  were 
worth  in  cash  $94,559,468  ;  while  those  of  Indiana 
were  worth  $634,804,189.  The  crops  produced  in 
Georgia  were  worth  $80,390,328 ;  in  Indiana,  $122,- 
914,302.  Hence,  on  the  capital  invested  in  real 
estate  in  Georgia,  the  agricultural  products 
amounted  to  eigJity-nve  per  cent.,  while  Indiana 
made  only  nineteen  per  cent,  on  her  capital  in- 
vested in  farms.  So  it  appears,  Mr.  President, 
that  considering  only  the  value  of  the  land  an 
investment  in  Georgia  farms  pays  more  than 
four  times  the  profit  of  the  same  amount  in- 
vested in  the  famous  lands  of  Indiana. 

Indiana  had  iu  1870,  $52,052,425  invested  in  man- 
ufactures which  produced  new  values  amount- 
in,;  to  $108,617,728,  or  $2,08  for  one  dollar  in- 
vested. Georgia  had  in  1870  au  investment  of 
$13,930,125,  which  produced  $31,196,115,  or  $2,24  to 
one  invested.  In  view  of  these  facts,  why  is  the 
average  Indiana  farmer  to-day  in  a  better  finan- 
cial condition  than  the  same  class  in  Georgia? 
The  same  source  from  which  we  get  the  basis  of 
the  above  facts,  U.  S.  Census,  1870,  wili  to  sornd 
extent  explain  the  fact. 

)  Indiana  by  an  investment  of  $13,061,890  in  labor 
saving  farm  machinery,  which  is  to  some  extent 
a  permanent  investment,  expends  in  producing 


her  $122,914.302  worth  of  agricultural  products, 
$10.11 1,738  less  for  labor  than  Georgia  does  to 
produce  her  $80.390.228  worth.  In  other  words, 
Indiana  pavs  only  eight  per  cent,  of  the  value  of 
her  agricultural  products  in  wages,  while  Geor- 
gia spends  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  hers  in  wages. 
Again,  Indiana  diversifies  her  products  and  de- 
votes proper  attention  to  raising  stock  of  all 
kinds,  so  that  the  farmer  has  nothing  to  buy  ex- 
cept bis  sugar,  coffee,  salt  and  dry  goods.  While 
in  Georgia  the  planter  too  often  depends  upon 
his  cotton  to  buy  meat  and  bread  as  well  as  to 
defray  all  other  expenses  of  the  farm.  In  every 
instance  the  cotton  planter  who  raises  his  sup- 
plies and  stock  on  bis  farm,  is  prospering.  That 
is  the  key  to  the  whole  matter..  Make  the  farm 
produce  firxt  its  own  supplies,  and  after  that  as 
large  a  surplus  as  is  possible  for  war/ret. 

Much  can  be  done  towards  accomplishing  re- 
form in  individual  practice  by  wise,  j  udicious 
and  just  state  action. 

In  this  respect  we  need 

STATE  REFORM. 

In  order  to  reach  a  just  understanding  of  this 
question,  let  us  consider  for  a  moment  what  is  a 
state  ?  It  is  a  political  body  governed  by  repre- 
sentatives; a  commonwealth.  Under  our  system 
the  people  rule  directly  through  their  represen- 
tatives chosen  from  small  communities  and  sup- 
posed to  represent  the  wishes  and  interests  of 
the  voters  and  tax-payers.  In  a  commonwealth 
therefore,  in  which  a  large  majority  of  the  prop- 
erty owners  are  engaged  in  the  fundamental 
food-producing  occupation  of  tilling  the  soil,  it 
is  highly  proper  for  that  commonwealth  to  em- 
ploy the  machinery  of  its  state  government  to 
promote  this  great  fundamental  interest  upon 
which  every  business  of  life  depends,  directly  or 
indirectly.  If  the  tax  payers  by  the  investment 
of  a  very  small  amount  in  a  State  Department 
of  Agriculture  as  a  medium  of  communication 
between  the  different  sections  and  individuals 
for  the  collection  and  dissemination  of  informa- 
tion, can  realize  a  large  saving  in  their  annual 
expenditures  or  an  increase  in  their  productive 
power,  then  the  investment  is  both  wise  and 
profitable. 

In  what  way  can  the  people  of  a  state  more 
wisely  direct  the  energies  of  their  government 
than  in  promoting  the  intelligence  and  wealth 
of  the  citizens.  Instead  of  wasting  the  peoples' 
money  in  the  discussion  of  questions  purely 
political,  on  the  passage  of  laws,  local  in  their 
application,  and  in  perpetual  tinkering  at  the 
Code,  let  our  statesmen  study  thoroughly  the 
sources  of  material  wealth  of  the  state,  the  ob- 
stacles in  the  way  of  their  development  and  the 
means  Of  increasing  the  prosperity  of  the  citi- 
zen. Let  them  look  more  to  the  means  of  pre- 
venting crime  than  to  the  enactment  of  laws  for 
its  punishment.  Let  them,  by  wise  and  just 
legislation,  so  encourage  the  productive  forces 
of  the  state,  that  peace  and  plenty  shall  sur- 
round the  citizens  and  there  will  be  little  need 
of  criminal  codes.  ^ 

There  is  much  that  the  producers  of  a  com- 
monwealth can  accomplish  through  the  agencies 
of  government  which  can  neither  be  reached  by 
individual  enterprise  or  by  the  organized  effort 
of  f  oluntary  associations. 

There  must  be  the  prestige  of  official  authori- 
ty, there  must  be  the  feeling  of  propriety-right 
on  the  part  of  the  citizen  which  each  experi- 
ences towards  the  state  government  which  he 
aids  in  supporting,  on  which  he  feels  at  liberty 
to  call  for  information,  and  to  which  he  de- 
lights to  contribute  the  results  of  his  observa- 
tion and  experience.  At  the  annual  expense  of 
one  cent  to  each  inhabitant,  Georgia  has  estab- 
lished a  Department  of  Agriculture  which  has 
been  annually  worth  to  the  commonwealth 
more  than  two  dollars  to  each  ii  habitant,  though 
it  has  been  in  operation  only  two  years.  r  You 
may  naturally  ask  "how  has  this  been  done?" 

The  farmers  of  Georgia  purchased  during  the 


last  season  56.596  tons  of  fertilizers.  Under  the 
law,  the  Commission  of  Agriculture  has  especial 
charge  of  the  inspection  aud  analysis  of  fertili- 
zers, and  is  authorized  to  forbid  the  sale  of  such 
articles  as  do  not  contain  a  reasonable  amount 
of  plant  food.  All  worthless  brands  are  there- 
lore  entirely  excluded  from  the  Georgia  mar- 
ket. 

The  analysis  of  all  others  are  published  for 
the  information  of  farmers,  as  well  as  the  com- 
mercial value  and  selling  price  of  each  brand. 
Five  hundred  pounds  of  each  brand  are  requir- 
ed for  soil  tests  which  are  now  being  conducted 
under  the  direction  of  the  commission  by  one 
hundred  and  ten  practical  farmers  in  all  sec- 
tions of  the  state.  As  the  result  of  this  system 
of  inspection  aud  analysis  the  farmers  are  not 
only  protected  from  the  impositions  which  were 
before  practiced  upon  them,  but  as  a  result  of 
the  contrast  of  the  chemical  composition  and 
commercial  values  of  the  various  brands,  he 
secures  his  fertilizers  nearly  twenty-four  per 
cent,  cheaper  this  year  than  last.  Again,  by 
scientific  experimental  investigation  it  has  been 
found  that  the  farmer  can  save  seventy-five  per 
cent,  of  his  former  outlay  for  fertilizers  by  com- 
posting home  material  with  acid  phosphate. 
This  information  has  been  disseminated  through 
the  publication  of  the  State  Department  of 
Agriculture  'till  nearly  half  the  farmers  in  the 
state  have  adopted  the  compost  system  by 
which  a  million  dollars  are  annually  saved  in  the 
state.  The  increase  in  the  oat  crop  of  the  state 
as  the  result  of  information  as  to  varieties  and 
time  of  sowing,  is  worth  half  a  million  dollars 
to  the  state  this  year.  Statistics  have  been  col- 
lected which  show  the  errors  of  the  past  and 
point  out  remedies  to  be  used  in  future.  Stock- 
raising  is  being  encouraged  by  the  preparation 
and  publication  of  manuals  for  the  use  of  farm- 
ers. 

A  Hand-book  of  the  state  has  been  prepared 
for  the  purpose  of  making  known  the  resources 
of  the  state— her  advantages  of  soil  and  climate, 
and  other  facts  for  the  information  of  intelli- 
gent capitalists  in  other  sections  of  our  own 
country,  as  well  as  those  of  the  old  world. 

These  are  some  of  the  results  of  the  first  two 
years'  labor  of  this  department  which  has  only 
reached  the  threshold  of  its  usefulness  and 
profit  to  the  state. 

With  the  aid  of  the  state  geologist,  Dr.  George 
Little,  of  whose  work  I  wish  to  speak  present- 
ly, samples  of  more  than  forty  beds  of  marl 
have  been  analyzed  and  a  manual  of  its  use  is 
being  prepared  for  the  instruction  of  the  farm- 
ers. 

At  an  annual  cost  of  one  cent  to  the  inhabi- 
tant, a  geological  survey  of  Georgia,  conducted 
by  Dr.  George  Little,  shows  unlimited  mineral 
wealth-embracing  175  square  miles  of  coal— iron 
ore  of  the  best  quality  and  almost  without 
limit— copper  ore  in  abundance  and  of  the  best 
quality— immense  quantities  of  iron  pyrites 
very  pure,  from  which  unlimitable  quantities  of 
sulphuric  acid,  which  we  need  to  render  bone 
phosphate  soluble,  may  be  manufactured— vast 
beds  of  white,  red  and  black  marble— a  bed  of 
excellent  roofing  slate,  100  feet  thick— a  solid 
mountain  of  granite,  seven  miles  in  circumfer- 
ence and  700  ft.  high— lime  and  marl  in  inex- 
haustible supply— manganese,  Baryton  &c.— 
with  as  much  gold  as  there  is  in  California. 

It  will  be  seen  then,  Mr.  President,  that  as  in- 
dividuals and  a  state  we  are  attempting  reform. 
The  state  of  Georgia  has  established  an  official 
head  for  the  advancement  of  her  agricultural 
interests.  She  is  havmg  her  water  power 
measured  and  her  mineral  deposits  examined  by 
a  skillful  geologist  for  the  information  of  manu- 
facturing and  mining  capitalists.  She  asks  the 
co-operation  of  her  sister  states  in  her  efforts 
at  reform  and  progress  in  all  that  pertains  to 
the  elevation  of  her  citizens  in  intelligence, 
prosperity  and  happiness.  She  has  invoked  the 
aid  of  science  in  its  application  to  the  develop- 


ment of  her  material  resources,  au<i  recogniz- 
ing it  in  its  true  light,  as  nature's  interpreter  has 
made  it  tributary  to  the  art  of  agriculture 
from  which  it  has  been  too  long  divorced  by  ig- 
norance, prejudice  and  superstition. 

Agriculture  being  the  leading  interest  in  a 
large  majority  of  the  states  of  the  Union,  it 
should  receive  the  fostering  care  of  the  state 
governments. 

Agriculture  should  be  studied  as  a  science  as 
well  as  an  art.  The  art  should  be  practiced  un- 
der the  full  glow  of  the  light  of  science.  There 
are  many  investigations  to  be  made  in  every 
state  \v  hich  cannot  be  conducted  by  individuals. 
Even  it  individuals  have  the  means  and  the 
public  spirit  to  experiment  for  the  benefit  of 
their  fellow  man,  the  facts  developed  by  indi- 
vidual investigations  are  not  so  readily  received 
as  those  coming  with  the  stamp  of  official  au- 
thority. If  each  state  in  the  Union  had  a  state 
Department  of  Agriculture,  the  field  of  useful- 
ness of  each  would  be  much  extended  by  the 
additional  means  thus  afforded  for  the  collec- 
tion of  information  and  its  dissemination  after 
its  collection. 

A  cordial  interchange  of  information  and  im- 
proved seeds  between  the  different  states, 
would  engender  more  kindly  feelings,  vastly  in- 
crease the  general  fund  of  agricultural  infor- 
mation, discover  channels  of  profitable  recipro- 
cal exchange  of  products,  and  increase  the  pro- 
ductive capacity  of  all  by  a  natural  interchange 
of  the  results  of  practical  and  experimental 
knowledge. 

We  need  in  all  the  states  a  more  practical 
statesmanship;  one  which  looks  more  to  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  citizen  in  intelligence  and 
material  prosperity— one  which  regards  the 
government  of  the  state  more  as  an  instrumen- 
tality for  the  promotion  of  the  general  welfare 
of  the  citizens,  than  as  a  system  of  machinery 
for  the  collection  of  taxes  and  the  punishment 
of  offenders. 

We  need  to  hear  less  of  .state  rights  and 
more  of  state  development  in  material  wealth- 
less  of  political  reconstruction  and  more  of  the 
reconstruction  of  individual,  and  by  conse- 
quence of  state  prosperity. 

Let  our  platform  be  the  prosperity  of  the  citi- 
zen and  the  development  of  the  material  resource* 
of  the  state  and  nation. 

NATIONAL  REFORM. 

While  the  battle  on  the  arena  of  national  poli- 
tics is  being  fought  with  the  watchword  reform* 
which  meets  with  a  hearty  echo  from  the  masses 
of  the  people,  let  us  avail  ourselves,  as  represen- 
tatives of  the  grand  army  of  producers,  consti- 
tuting more  than  half  of  the  entire  population 
of  the  nation,  of  the  tidal  wave  of  popular  sen- 
timent to  demand  certian  measures  -of  reform 
by22J4  millions  of  agriculturists  shall  be  repre- 
sented in  the  government  of  the  United  States. 
We  have  a  Department  of  War  and  the  Navy. 
Let  us  now  insist  upon  a  Department  of  PEACE 
presided  over  by  a  representative  of  the  great 
productive  interest  of  our  Country  Agriculture* 
Let  us  demand  in  the  emphatic  language  of 
men  who  know  their  rights,  that  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Agriculture  be  made  a  Cabinet  officer. 

Let  us  insist,  until  we  shall  be  heard  by  the 
recognition  of  the  existence  of  22^  millions  of 
Agriculturists  who  lead  and  clothe  the  nation. 

For  the  want  of  a  voice  in  the  council  of  the 
nation,  the  material  interests  of  our  people  are 
languishing,  our  commerce  declining,our  lactor- 
ies  idle,  and  our  furnaces  and  foundries  are  cold. 

Our  National  Department  of  Agriculture  has 
accomplished  much  good,  but  there  is  still  a  field 
of  usefulness  awaiting  it,  when  with  a  proper 
organization  of  the  agricultural  forces  of  the 
country,  its  head  shall  take  his  legitimate  posi- 
tion as  one  of  the  political  family  of  the  Presi- 
dent. 

Each  state  should  have  a  Department  of  Agri- 
culture which  collects  information  either  direct- 


ly  from  the  farmers,  or  from  local  organizations, 

The  State  Departments  should  labor  together, 
co-operating  with  each  other  and  the  National 
Department,  all  reporting  to  the  latter  the  re- 
sults of  their  iavestijrations,  and  supplying  an- 
nually samples  illustrative  of  the  productive 
capacity  of  the  various  sections  of  the  country. 

A  perpetual  fair  of  the  agricultural  and  horti- 
cultural products  of  every  section  of  the  coun- 
try should  be  on  exhibition  at  the  National  De- 
partment. 

When  extraordinary  results  are  attained  in  the 
production  of  any  staple  article  -by  improved 
methods  of  cultivation  or  feitilization,  the  means 
by  which  they  are  attained  should  be  published 
for  the  information  of  the  masses. 

The  workings  of  the  National  Department 
should  be  of  a  practical  character,  free  from  all 
partiality  of  sectional  bias.  Its  head  should 
labor  with  an  eye  single  to  the  material  develop- 
ment of  the  whole  country  as  the  surest  road  to 
individual  and  national  prosperity. 

He  should  study  well  the  productive  forces  of 
the  entire  country,  probe  the  secrets  of  success 
in  other  nations  and  with  eclectic  skill  appropri- 
ate such  advances  in  the  science  or  the  art  of 
agriculture  as  are  adapted  to  our  surroundings. 
He  should  guard  with  jealous  eye  the  rights  and 
interests  of  the  producers  of  the  country,  and 
as  their  representative  head,  defend  them  from 
encroachments  or  infringements. 

Too  long  has  the  public  mind  been  divided 
from  practical  issues  involving  their  vital  inter- 
ests to  those  of  an  ephemeral  nature,  born 
only  of  a  fanatical  brain.  While  we  have  been 
wrangling  over  questions  either  of  a  purely 
political  or  sectional  character,  our  practical 
cousins  over  the  waters  have  stolen  our  com- 
merce, supplanted  our  monopoly  of  the  cotton 
supply,  sought  other  sources  for  their  supply  of 
breadstuffs,  and  now  coolly  demand  millions  of 
gold  in  payment  of  her  excess  of  exports  over 
imports. 

With  the  most  magnificent  country  upon  which 
the  sun  ever  shone,  with  every  variety  of  soil 
and  climate,  with  a  boast  of  our  ability  to  feed 
and  clothe  the  world  still  vibrating  in  the  air, 
the  balance  of  trade  is  against  us.  It  is  a  vain 
sin  to  speak  of  a  resumption  of  specie  payments 
while  we  are  shipping  coin  from  our  shores.  It 
is  vain  to  hope  for  national  prosperity  while  the 
sources  of  wealth  are  languishing. 

It  is  vain  to  expect  relief  from  mere  political 
reform.  There  must  be  reform  in  the  field  as 
well  as  in  the  cabinet.  Means  must  be  devised 
by  which  the  farmer  can  pocket  some  of  the 
profits  of  his  labor,  »nd  these  means  must  not 
involve  a  return  to  the  primitive  habits  of  our 
forefathers,  but  must  involve  the  application  of 
science,  superior  skill  and  judgment,  the  appli- 
cation of  machinery  to  work  now  performed  by 
human  muscle,  the  introduction  of  improved 
methods  of  cultivation  and  feitilization,  all  re- 
sulting in  increased  production  at  reduced  cost. 

We  must  re-estatilish  the  balance  of  trade  in 
our  favor  before  there  can  be  substantial  pros- 
perity in  our  country.  We  must  produce  more 
than  we  consume— not  only  that,  we  must  sell 
more  than  we  buy. 

While  laboring  t<  r  national  development  and 
reform  in  agriculture,  let  us  not  forget  her  kin- 
dred creative  industries,  mining  and  manufact- 
ures. These  should  have  a  joint  head  in  the 
national  government  represented  by  a  commis- 
sioner of  mining  arid  manufactures,  charged 
with  the  duty  of  collecting  and  also  dissemi- 
nating information  relating  to  these  great  inter- 
ests. At  the  capital  should  be  two  cabinets,  one 
of  specimens  illustrative  of  the  rniueral  resources 
of  the  whole  Union,  for  the  instruction  of  our 
own  people,  and  that  of  those  who  may  wish  to 
cast  their  lot  with  us  and  invest  their  money  in 
the  productive  development  of  our  resources. 

The  other  should  contain  specimens  of  the 
manufacturing  skill  of  our  country  as  well  as 


those  from  other  nationalities. 

I  have  thus  thrown  out  a  few  thoughts,  Mr. 
President,  in  the  hope  that  the  ball  already 
started  may  be  rolled  on  until  the  prosperity  of 
our  people  shall  correspond  with  the  grandeur 
of  our  country  in  richness  and  variety  of  re- 
sources. That  our  people  are  not  blessed  with 
peace,  plenty  and  contentment  is  not  the  fault 
of  the  Creator  who  has  bestowed  upon  us  a 
country  vast  in  extent,  varied  in  soil,  climate 
and  material  resources,  and  abounding  in  all  the 
elements  which  contribute  to  individual,  state 
or  national  prosperity. 

The  fault  seems  to  be  more  in  the  creative  in- 
dustries of  our  country  which  have  failed  to 
utilize  to  the  best  advantage  the  talents  which 
the  Master  gave  them,  and  in  the  state  govern- 
ments which  have  failed  in  their  corporative 
capacity  to  foster  with  encouraging  care  the 
great  fuadamental  industries  which  sustain 
them. 

Let  those  who  own  and  till  the  soil  unite  in 
one  grand  brotherhood,  forgetting  all  that  is 
unpleasant  in  the  memories  of  the  past,  forget- 
ting section,  forgetting  all  save  that  we  are  citi- 
zens of  a  common  country,  engaged  in  a  com- 
mon cause,  that  we  are  stewards  of  the  God  of 
Nature,  charged  with  the  duty  of  developing 
and  beautifying  the  land  which  He  has  given  us. 
that  on  us  rests  the  responsibility  of  improving 
and  cheapening  the  methods  by  which  man  is 
fed  and  clothed,  that  we  owe  it  to  posterity  that 
we  not  only  preserve,  but  increase  the  product- 
ive capacity  of  the  heritage  which  we  leave 
them. 

Be  it  remembered  that  we  are  but  the  pio- 
neers on  the  borders  of  a  new  era  of  agricultural 
progress,  in  which  science  and  art  have  joined 
hands  in  a  noble  and  determined  effort  to  reju- 
venate the  Mother  of  all  employments,  and  cause 
her  breasts  to  flow  with  abundant  nourishment 
for  all  of  her  toiling  children. 

Mr.  President,  allow  me  to  express  the  hope 
that  this  Centennial  year  of  our  national  exist- 
ence shall  mark  an  era  not  only  of  agricultural 
reform,  but  of  a  return  of  fraternul  feeling  be- 
tween all  citizens  of  a  common  country;  a  senti- 
ment based  on  the  solid  foundation  of  a  common 
origin,  the  love  of  a  common  country,  a  commu- 
nity of  interest  and  a  common  hope  for  a  still 
grander  heritage  for  our  children's  children, 
when  the  nations  of  the  earth  shall  be  again  in- 
vited to  rejoice  with  us  over  the  fulfillment  of 
another  century's  existence  of  our  government 
of  Sister  States. 


30 


AMERICAN  AGRICULTURAL  LIT- 
ERATURE. 

By  E.  L.  STURTEVANT. 


The  history  of  a  literature  la  the  history  of  a 
people  1  Tbe  habits  of  thought  and  the  methods 
of  work  are  all  embalmed  somewhere  in  books, 
and  an  examination  of  these  last  should  give  a 
correct  understanding  of  the  people  among 
whom  they  originated.  The  past  century  in 
America  has  been  productive  of  vast  changes, 
and  progress  has  been  at  times  so  rapid  as  to  ob- 
scure many  of  the  details  of  its  course. 

The  people,  an  offshoot  from  many  lands,  oc- 
cupying a  new  country,  abounding  in  those  pos- 
sibilities which  but  required  energy  to  develop, 
have  from  small  beginnings  become  a  great  em- 
pire, wherein  material  progress  has  kept  in  ad- 
vance of  the  intellectual.  Hence  its  literature 
has  been  a  peculiar  one,  and  well  represents  the 
phases  amongst  which  it  has  originated. 

The  American  book  1  The  American  agricult- 
ural book !  Have  we  any  such  ?  The  question 
is  a  pertinent  one,  and  must  be  answered  with 
caution.  Our  ancestors  brought  with  them  to 
this  land  an  European  training,  and  an  European 
method  of  thought,  and  taught  their  children 
the  same. 

For  many  years  the  minds  of  the  cultured 
turned  to  Europe  for  their  inspiration,  and  the 
United  States  achieved  its  political  independence 
long  before  it  did  its  intellectual  independence. 
Hence  an  earlier  literature  is  mostly  founded  on 
foreign  models. 

Our  authors  made  books  from  foreign  author- 
ity, or  under  foreign  influences.  The  discussions 
of  new  methods  usually  originated  abroad  and 
were  broadly  transferred  to  our  shores  without 
discrimination  and  by  an  ambitious  rather  than 
a  practical  intellect.  The  motto  of  practice  with 
science  was  either  unknown,  or  quietly  ignored, 
judging  as  we  must  authors  results,  rather  than 
their  claims. 

Indeed,  up  to  within  comparatively  a  few 
years,  our  American  agricultural  books  could  be 
counted  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand,  and  even 
now  scarcely  would  the  two  hands  be  required. 
Indeed,  the  majority  of  the  American  agricult- 
ural books  which  have  issued  from  our  home 
presses,  have  been  esteemed  too  worthless  for 
accumulation  on  our  library  shelves ;  of  too  little 
value  even,  for  the  individual  collector.  A  few 
works  on  fruits,  a  few  books  on  the  garden,  a 
very  few  special  treaties  on  special  subjects,  a 
book  or  so  on  the  horse,  a  veterinary  volume  of 
recent  issue,  and  our  list  is  nearly  complete. 

Had  the  time  been  given  me,  it  would  have 
been  a  privilege  and  a  pleasure  to  note  the 
books,  the  history  of  their  authors,  and  their 
literary  character  and  claims,  indeed,  of  all  the 
accessible  writings  which  have  been  published  in 
America.  But  such  a  plan  requires,  in  justice,  a 
more  careful  elaboration  than  my  time  for 
preparation  will  allow  of,  and  a  mere  enumera- 
tion would  afford  but  dry  reading  and  very 
little  information.  As  an  indication  of  their 
number,  I  will  only  say  that  I  have  already  cat- 
alogued some  5,000  authors  of  books  or  essays  in 
the  English  language,  and  have  many  more  in 
the  rough,  not  as  yet  systematically  arranged, 
and  probably  have  overlooked  many. 

We  may  distinguish  three  eras  in  our  agricult- 
ural literature :  The  era  of  the  book,  the  era  of 
the  state  and  official  or  society  publication,  and 
the  era  of  the  newspaper  1  As  I  consider  the 
second  the  most  strictly  American  in  its  influ- 
ences on  the  progress  of  our  country  and  on 
other  writings,  I  propose  to  limit  myself  to  this 
branch. 

It  is  not  true  that  America  was  the  first  to  is- 
sue governmental  or  society  publications,  but  it 


is  true  that  such  as  she  has  issued,  and  they  are 
many,  have  had  an  influence  upon  the  commu- 
nity as  being  largely  composed  of  the  experi- 
ences of  those  who  were  too  uncultured  for  fine 
writing,  and  too  unlearned  to  seek  inspiration 
from  abroad.  Hence,  being  oftentimes  common- 
place, and  yet  with  an  occasional  attempt  at 
something  more  original,  they  have  not  only 
been  educators  of  the  people  to  a  certain  extent, 
but  their  vast  importance  in  training  an  observ- 
ing and  ambitious  class,  whose  writings  in  turn 
have  influenced  others,  has  been  almost  com- 
pletely overlooked.  The  great  and  most  valua- 
ble historic  feature  of  this  class  of  writings  has 
been  in  their  affording  an  outlet  for  those  of  the 
farming,  or  amateur  farming  public,  who  bad 
desires  to  write  tar  ahead  of  their  ability.  These 
publications  were  in  fact  the  school  wherein  a 
public  was  being  educated,  and  preliminary  to 
the  era  of  the  newspaper,  which  now  in  many 
respects  has  taken  their  place.  These  publica- 
tions had  also  another  influence.  They  brought 
before  the  farmer  and  disseminated  the  discov- 
eries and  'the  writings  of  scientific  men,  either 
through  transcripts  or  compilations,  and  thus 
not  only  instructed,  but  spurred  their  readers  to 
a  thought,  often,  I  am  sorry  to  believe,  the  pro- 
duct of  the  spirit  of  denial.  Additional  to  these 
purposes  served  by  them,  they  also  furnished  a 
place  for  the  original  work  of  the  few  students 
of  agricultural  science,  and  not  only  gave  their 
articles  a  perpetuation,  but  encouraged  the  ef- 
forts of  others.  These  publications  may  be  de- 
scribed as  an  oUa  podrida  of  the  good,  bad  and 
indifferent,  the  articles  both  in  number  and 
quality  standing  in  this  order.  To  be  classical, 
we  may  well  quote  an  epigram  of  Martial,  "'sunt 
bona,  sunt  quoedam  mediocria,  sunt  mala  plura, 
guoe  legte."  Some  irood,  more  bad,  some  neither 
one  nor  t'other. 

The  earlier  publications  seem  more  valuable 
than  later  ones,  and  the  later  ones  more  valuable 
than  those  which  precede  them,  and  this  is  a? 
we  should  suppose.  At  first  the  product  of  en- 
thusiasm and  of  the  earnest,  hard  work  of  the 
few,  their  articles  were  not  only  less  abundant 
but  more  carefully  considered ;  yet  even  here 
dependence  on  foreign  thought  is  very  manifest. 
The  intermediate  volumes  of  these  publications 
are  extremely  miscellaneous,  and  give  character 
to  the  whole.  They  are  not  the  less  valuable  in 
their  influence  on  the  thought  of  their  time, 
however  little  merit  they  may  possess  from  a 
critical  view.  The  later  volumes  commence  to 
be  Americanized  in  thought,  and  are  gradually 
taking  their  place  as  repositories  of  knowledge 
and  thought,  leaving  their  miscellaneous  con 
tributors  of  the  past  to  the  newspapers,  which 
have  so  wondrously  increased  in  number. 

Another  thought  is  in  place  here.  Although 
this  era  of  the  society  pamphlets  is  a  recent  one, 
yet  we  can  trace  its  various  phases,  by  viewing 
its  present  position  in  the  newer  states.  We  can 
also  underrate  its  importance  and  Influence  by 
ignoring  the  many  local  societies  and  their  many 
annual  pamphlets,  and  even  the  like  influences 
of  societies  which  have  issued  no  printed  matter. 
Space,  however,  forbids  us  to  mention  other 
than  the  state  or  sectional  results,  although  our 
opinions  may  be  unconsciously  to  ourselves 
modified  by  the  local  viewings. 

We  will  proceed  to  review  our  ground  by 
states,  and  in  the  order  of  the  date  of  their  first 
work.  In  our  older  states,  it  will  be  observed, 
that  our  remarks  hold  truer  than  in  the  newer 
ones,  as  they  have  proceeded  farther  in  the  de- 
velopment of  their  agricultural  thought. 

Pennsylvania  has  the  honor  of  heading  our 
list.  This  great  state  with  a  fertile  soil  and  im- 
mense resources  and  peaceful  in  the  earlier 
times,  through  the  Avisdom  of  Penn  had  op- 
portunity to  develop  its  resources  while  yet 
the  Great  West  was  unknown,  and  the  rnoro 
sterile  Bast  was  but  a  line  on  the  seaboard,  with 


tbe  waves  of  ocean  on  the  one  side  and  as  yet 
savage  man  on  the  other. 

Its  prosperous  settlers  regarded  agriculture  as 
the  main  stay  of  a  state,  a 'id  hence  with  the 
increased  activity  of  a  new  nation,  agriculture 
received  a  proper  share  of  attention  soon  after 
the  close  of  tbe  war  of  Independence. 

Philadelphia,  the  metropolis  at  that  time,  pos- 
sessed a  few  earnest  men,  who  organized  the 
"Philadelphia  Society  for  Promoting  Agricult- 
ure," February  llth,  1785,  thus  initiating  tbe  first 
work  of  this  kind,  so  far  as  our  investigation 
ffoes,  on  this  continent.  This  society  was  char- 
tered February  14th,  1809,  and  has  published  vol- 
umes from  1806  to  1826.  Minutes  of  its  proceed- 
ings from  1785  to  1810,  and  one  book  certainly, 
perhaps  more :  "  Hints  for  American  Husband- 
men, with  communications  to  tbe  Society. 

March  29th,  1851,  the  Pennsylvania  State  Agri- 
cultural Society  was  chartered,  and  from  that 
time  to  this  has  published  (10)  ten  volumes,  the 
last  bearing  date  1875. 

The  earlier  publications  of  the  Philadelphia 
Society  we  are  not  familiar  with  and  must  pass 
over.  The  later  publications  of  the  State  society 
are  essentially  commonplace,  and  form  but  little 
exception  to  our  general  and  preliminary  criti- 
cisms. Yet  there  is  an  appearance  in  these  vol- 
umes of  a  commencing  differentiation,  which 
may  in  the  future  secure  more  valuable  results. 
A  publication  may  preserve  its  tone  from  the 
personal  character  of  its  compiler,  or  it  may  be 
the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  community  from 
amongst  whom  it  emanates.  This  latter  course 
is  far  more  desirable  than  the  first,  as  possessing 
a  deeper  meaning  and  a  greater  permanence. 
These  Pennsylvania  publications  show  a  low 
state  of  agricultural  thought,  scarcely  elevated 
as  yet  by  the  leaven  which  is  becoming  more 
frequent  in  its  preserver.  A  gO9d  soil,  good  and 
near  market,  a  laborious,  plodding  people,  have 
all  combined  to  make  Pennsylvania  agriculture 
profitable;  but  considering  this  agriculture  from 
the  standpoint  of  possibilities,  or  from  the  out- 
look of  the  society  report,  we  must  call  it  back- 
ward. Let  us  hope  that  the  abundant  leaven  in 
the  agriculture  of  this  state  may  shortly  leaven 
the  whole  lump. 

New  York,  with  its  rich  valleys  and  its  posi- 
tion so  well  suited  to  control  commerce,  pos- 
sessed a  large  class  who  saw  the  importance  of 
the  products  of  the  wood  and  field  for  the  devel- 
opment of  their  commercial  importance  and 
wealth,  and  as  early  as  1791,  founded  the  "Soci- 
ety for  the  advancement  of  Agriculture,  Arts 
and  Manufactures,"  which  was  incorporated  for 
1C  years.  Robert  R.  Livingston,  Chancellor  of 
the  state  was  its  President,  and  it  seems  to  have 
published  four  volumes  of  transactions.  We 
find  on  the  catalogue  of  the  Astor  Library, 
•Transactions  of  the  Society  for  the  Promotion 
of  Agriculture,  etc.,"  parts  I  to  IV,  4  vo.,  Albany, 
1792-9,  and  also  a  reprint  of  volume  I  in  8  yo., 
and  continued  as  Transactions  of  the  "  Society 
for  the  Promotion  of  Useful  Arts  in  the  State  of 
New  York."  8  volumes,  8vo.,  Albany,  1801-19. 
^We  also  find  mention  of  a  "Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Agriculture,  Manufactures  and 
Arts,"  established  by  act  of  Legislature,  March 
12th,  1798,  as  well  as  the  "Society  for  the  Promo- 
tion of  Useful  Arts."  incorporated  April  2d,  1804. 
This  latter  society  published  seven  volumes  of 
its  transactions  prior  to  1815. 

April  7th,  1819,  the  legislature  appropriated 
$10,000  for  two  years,  to  be  distributed  among 
toecounty  agricultural  societies  and  established  a 
Board  of  Agriculture,  composed  of  the  Presidents 
of  the  several  county  societies,  or  of  a  delegate 
therefrom.  This  board  was  empowered  to  pub- 
lish annually  a  volume  of  such  agricultural  mat- 
ter as  they  should  select,  and  also  to  expend 
$1,000  yeariy  in  the  purchase  and  distribution  of 
seeds.  Jn  March,  1820,  the  legislature  extended 
the  act  to  a  further  term  of  four  years. 


January  10, 1820,  this  board  was  organized  by 
the  choice  of  Stephen  Van  Rensslaer,  President, 
and  George  W.  Featherstonhaugh,  Secretaryr 
twenty-six  members  being  present.  Three  vol- 
umes are  to  be  credited  to  this  organization : 
"  Memories  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture  of  the 
state  of  New  York,"  8vo.,  Albany,  1821-5  (?) 

in  1832,  the  "New  York  State  Agricultural  So- 
ciety" was  organized,  arid  received  its  charter 
April  36, 1832  for  twenty  years,  which  was  re- 
newed March  16th,  1852.  The  proceedings  of  the 
society  appeared  in  the  Cultivator,  established 
in  1834  as  the  organ  of  the  society.  The  first 
transactions  were  published  in  1841,  and  contin- 
ued annually  until  and  including  1873.  Among 
its  secretaries  appear  the  names  of  Jesse  Buel, 
Luther  Tucker  and  B.  P.  Johnson. 

In  1850,  a  Journal  of  the  New  York  State  Agri- 
cultural Society  was  commenced  as  a  monthly; 
a  double  column,  royal  octavo  pamphlet,  but 
was  afterwards  issued  irregularly.  It  was  dis- 
continued with  1874. 

The  State  of  New  York  has  been  liberal  in  its 
publications  which  concern  agriculture.  We 
nnd  a  valuable  octavo  "Report  of  the  New  York 
State  Cattle  Commissionecs  for  the  year  1868,  on 
Texas  Cattle  Disease,"  8vo.,  Albany  (1869).  We 
should  also  mention  the  "Agriculture  of  New 
YorK,"  comprising  an  account  of  the  Classifica- 
tion and  Distribution  of  the  Soils  and  Rocks, 
Meteorology,  Agricultural  Production  and  Inju- 
rious Insects,  by  E.  Emmons,"  5  volumes,  with 
one  of  plates  4vo. 

Among  other  societies  which  published  pro- 
ceedings, we  note  the  Farmers'  Clufc,  of  Little 
Falls,  N.  Y.,  organized  March  22d,  1857,  and  which 
published  annual  Reports.  The  New  York  State 
Cheese  Manufacturer's  Association  organized 
January  7th,  1864,  aad  subsequently  merged  in 
the  "American  Dairymens'  Association  (1865).  It 
published  two  reports,  both  in  1864,  and  both 
published  in  8vo.,  at  Utica.  In  1871  the  New 
York  State  Dairymen's  Association  was  organ- 
ized. It  published  a  volume  of  proceedings,  8vo., 
Albany,  1873.  About  1872  the  "Western  New 
Yors.  Butter  Maker's  Association  and  Farmers 
Club,"  came  into  existence.  Its  second  annual 
report  for  the  year  1873-4,  is  an  8vo.,  published 
at  Dunkirk,  N.  Y.,  1874.  In  1874  there  was  also 
published  the  "First  Annual  Report  of  the  But- 
ter and  Cheese  Exchange  of  New  York,"  also 
Ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  American  Dairy- 
men's Association,  published  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Butter  and  Cheese  Exchange,  8vo.,  (New 
York?)  1874,  pp.  158. 

In  the  earlier  of  these  publications,  of  those 
we  have  seen,  at  least,  the  articles  are  rather 
long,  rather  labored,  and  while  useful  and  of 
value,  even  from  our  present  standpoint,  yet 
they  seem  hardly  American.  The  State  Agri- 
cultural Society  Transactions  are  American  in 
so  far  as  they  leave  an  impression  on  tbe  mind* 
tor  they  contain  very  much  that  is  local  and 
trivial,  and  there  is  a  tendency  throughout 
on  the  part  of  the  contributors  to  refer  to  for- 
eign results  when  practicable.  This  is  more 
noticeable  in  the  earlier  than  the  later  volumes. 
Scattered  throughout  these  volumes,  however, 
are  most  valuable  essays  and  contributions,  and 
while  these  volumes  cannot  bear  a  very  careful 
study  for  criticism,  yet  they  are  praiseworthy, 
and  illustrative  of  the  stage  of  thought,  agri- 
cultural, we  mean,  at  the  time  of  their  produc- 

The  Dairy  publications  are  indeed  notable. 
They  are  thoroughly  American  in  subject  and 
tone,  and  are  a  credit  to  the  state  and  the  popu- 
lation which  has  produced  them.  They  have 
stimulated  investigation,  and  have  produced  an 
activity  of  thought  hitherto  unheard  of  in  agri- 
culture, and  dairy  thought  has  kept  but  little  in 
advance  of  dairy  practice.  Would  our  space 
allow,  we  could  dwell  upon  this  wonderful  de- 
velopment of  speech  and  print,  and  practice,  a 
trinity  deserving  of  our  highest  commendation. 


The  influence  of  these  publications  as  educa- 
tors of  writers  for  our  press,  is  very  marked. 
The  names  which  appear  there  and  in  our  peri- 
odicals are  largely  the  same.  A  young  man  with 
brains  attends  a  society  meeting,  and,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  necessity,  his  name  appears  in  the  trans- 
actions as  a  talker,  or  the  giver  of  an  idea.  The 
young  man  is  emboldened  to  think  and  write  by 
this  public  appearance,  and  agriculture  is  a 
gainer.  Perhaps  we  have  no  such  stimulus  to 
agricultural  thought  as  these  transactions,  and 
when  the  conditions  are  favorable,  results  ap  - 
pear  which  are  surprisingly  effective.  Our 
Dairymens'  transactions  stand  prominently  for- 
ward as  proof.  It  is  through  our  society  work, 
whether  aided  or  unaided  by  the  state,  that  our 
literature  is  to  become  Americanized.  Book 
making  and  newspaper  writing  are  apt  to  de- 
velop i.i  many  minds  a  love  for  authority,  and  a 
carelessness  about  the  applicability  of  a  princi- 
ple, provided  plausibility  is  gained.  Our  trans- 
actions aid  in  Americanizing  our  literature,  by 
affording  opportunity  and  space  for  individual- 
ity to  appear  and  gain  credit.  What  our  trans- 
actions are  capable  of  in  this  direction,  is  shown 
in  our  Dairy  Reports  ;  the  tendency  thereto,  is 
indicated  by  the  work  of  societies  less  differen- 
tiated. 

A  poor  book  or  a  poor  newspaper  occupies  val- 
uable room  in  my  study,  and  soon  finds  its  level 
in  destruction.  A  society  report,  no  matter  how 
poor,  finds  welcome  to  my  shelf,  as,  if  it  tells  me 
not  positive,  yet  it  furnishes  a  negative  data, 
which  sooner  or  later  will  be  of  advantage  to 
my  work.  Agriculture  is  a  local  art,  and  re- 
quires to  be  Americanized  for  our  use,  and 
praise  indeed  it  is,  to  say  of  any  agency,  that  it 
tends  in  this  direction. 

Would  the  space  permit,  it  would  be  a  pleas- 
ure to  review  the  list  of  names  which  appear  in 
these  publications  of  a  great  state,  and  point 
out  how  much  our  agriculture  is  indebted  to 
men  comparatively  obscure,  yet  even  now  influ- 
encing by  their  work.  Like  a  pebble  cast  in  the 
placid  lake,  so  does  our  really  honest  writer,  in- 
fluence in  ever  expanding  ripples,  currents  of 
thought,  which  in  turn  influence  others,  and  so 
on  towards  eternity.  We  hardly  appreciate,  how 
that  we  in  this  Centennial  year,  are  but  the 
children  of  the  present,  born  of  the  past,  and 
destined  to  prove  the  adult  of  the  future. 

Massachusetts,  with  barren  soil  and  fertile  sea, 
the  state  wherein  industry  has  overcome  obsta- 
cles of  poor  soil  and  a  discouraging  severity  of 
climate,  has  ever  laid  more  stress  on  her  fisher- 
ies and  her  commerce  than  on  her  agriculture. 
Yet  even  she  has  protected  her  infant  agricul- 
ture by  organized  effort,  and  has  encouraged 
the  development  of  her  rural  resources. 

In  1797,  a  few  of  her  leading  citizens  formed 
the  Massachusetts  Society  for  the  promotion  of 
agriculture,  and  this  society  has  been  a  power 
for  good,  through  the  changing  years,  even  to 
the  present  time.  It  has  imported  improved 
stock,  and  tools,  animals  and  fertilizers,  and  has 
ever  been  helpfull  to  the  struggling  specialities 
of  the  farmers  occupation.  In  1797  the  year  of 
incorporation,  the  trustees  published  some  agri- 
cultural pamphlets  which  afterward  became  a 
journal  to  which  they  mostly  contributed. 
These  were  collected  and  published  in  ten  vol- 
umes 8  vo.  Boston,  from  1801  to  1826,  under 
the  title  of  "Massachusetts  Agricultural  Repos- 
itory and  Journal."  In  1858  they  commence  an- 
other sei-ies  of  publications  under  the  title  of 
Transactions  of  Massachusetts  Society  for  pro- 
motion of  Agriculture,  new  series,  vol.  3,  8  vo. 
Boston,  1858.  Part  two  was  afterward  published, 
but  the  edition  mysteriously  disappeared  from 
the  rooms  of  the  society,  and  but  two  copies  are 
known  to  be  in  existence.  Part  three  was  pub- 
blished  in  1861,  8  vo.  Boston. 

Aprill  12,  1837,  a  resolve  passed  the  Legislature 
for  an  agriculture  survey  of  the  state,  and  the 


Commissioner  Henry  Coleman  made   four  re- 
ports.   First  report.  County  of  Essex,  1837  8  vo. 


Boston  1838,  pp.  139.  Second  report,  County  of 
Berkshire,  1838,  8  vo.  Boston,  1839,  pp.  194. 
Third  report  en  wheat  and  silk,  8  vo.  Boston, 


1840,  pp.  252.    Fourth  report,  Counties  of  Frank- 
lin and  Middlesex,  8  vo.  Boston  1841,  pp.  258. 

In  1845  and  1846,  the  returns  of  agricultural 
societies  of  Massachusetts,  for  these  years  where 
collated  and  prepared  by  J.  S.  Palfrey—  two  vol- 
umes 8  vo.  Boston  1846-1847.  The  continuation 
under  Wm.  B.  Calbam,  Secretary  of  the  Com- 
monwealth, were  "  Transactions  of  the  Agricul- 
tural Societies  of  Massachusetts  collated  from 
the  original  returns  for  1847-48  and  1849,  3  vols. 
8  vo.  Boston,  1848-50.  The  next  publication  was 
Transactions  of  the  Agricultural  Societies  in  the 
state  of  Massachusetts,  for  1851  and  1852  collated 
from  the  original  returns  by  Amasa  Walker, 
Secretary  of  the  Commonwealth,  2  vols.  8  vo 
Boston,  1852-53. 

April  21,  1852,  the  Massachusetts  State  Board 
of  Agriculture,  was  organized  as  a  Department 
of  the  Government.  Annually  thereafter  has 
appeared  the  "  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  of  Massachusetts,"  1854  to 
1876—23  vols.  In  addition  to  these,  and  of  late 
years  oound  with  them,  has  appeared  an  "Ab- 
stract of  the  Returns  of  the  Agricultural  Socie- 
ties of  Massachusetts. 

In  addition  to  these  publications,  the  state  has 
published  under  authority  of  the  Legislature, 
"  Insects  Injurious  to  Vegetation,"  by  T.  W. 
Harris,  a  standard  and  useful  work,  also  a  "Re- 
port on  the  Trees  and  Shrubs  growing  naturally 
in  the  Forests  of  Massachusetts,"  by  Gep.  B.  Em- 
erson, 8  vo.  Boston,  1846.  Several  editions  of 
these  works  have  appeared. 

Among  the  associated  works  in  the  state, 
bearing  on  agriculture,  we  may  mention  the 
"  Massachusetts  Cheese  Manufacturer's  Associa- 
tion," whose  seventh  annual  report  appeared  in 
1872,  also  the  influential  and  prosperous  "Mass- 
chusetts  Horticultural  Society,"  which  was  in- 
corporated June  12,  1829.  and  has  published 
transactions,  &c.,  8  vo.  Boston,  1829-76.  As  a 
purely  scientific  feature,  this  state  can  also 
claim  the  "  Bulletin  of  the  Bussey  Institution," 
an  adjunct  of  Harvard  College,  which  issued  its 
part  1  in  1874,  8  vo.  Cambridge.  Part  V.  the 
conclusion  of  volume  1,  appearing  in  1876. 

This  agricultural  work  has  had  a  great  influ- 
ence on  the  state.  The  history  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Society  is  an  honorable  one,  and  al- 
though its  work  has  been  desultory,  yet  its  ac- 
tion has  been  high  toned,  and  has  been  produc- 
tive of  large  benefit.  Its  prodceedings  show  a 
remarkable  earnestness  of  agricultural  thought. 
and  although  not  wholly  free  from  criticism, 
yet  from  the  high  character  of  its  members,  was 
a  foreshadowing  of  an  American  agricultural 
literature.  Its  strongest  influences  on  Massa- 
chusetts farming  has  been  brought  about  from 
its  cosmopolitan  system  of  prizes,  covering  those 
special  details  of  agriculture  which  required  the 
most  fostering,  and  'through  its  importations, 
which  have  been  numerous.  It  is  still  a  strong 
society,  and  is  still  engaged  in  its  good  work. 

The  appearance  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture 
was  the  natural  result  of  the  numerous  county 
societies,  and  its  proceedings  are  marked  by  a 
dignity  worthy  of  a  branch  of  the  government. 
The  effect  of  its  own  actions  on  agricultural 
thought  may  be  traced  in  its  own  volumes.  At 
the  first,  its  secretary  was  obliged,  probably 
from  dearth  of  material,  to  write  much  himself, 
and  give  to  his  office  much  attention  ;  but  grad- 
ually, as  its  influence  was  felt  among  thinking 
farmers,  material  pressed  forward  almost  in  ex- 
cess of  the  space  allowed,  so  that  of  late  years 
the  secretary  has  had  to  perform  but  little  la- 
labor,  and  that  mostly  of  an  executive  or  advi- 
sory character.  To  such  an  extent  has  this  pro- 
gress gone  on,  that  while  the  first  volume  con- 


talned  117  out  of  the  164  pages  from  the  secre- 
tary's pen,  and  the  third  volume  98  out  of  138 
pages,  the  last  two  volumes  contains  but  six  out 
of  408,  and  12  out  of  356  pages  respectively. 

The  significance  of  these  facts  are  obvious. 
They  show  the  advancement  in  agricultural 
thought,  as  strongly  as  may  be,  while  an  inves- 
tigation of  the  contents  of  these  volumes  shows 
a  gradual  passage  from  a  trivial  thought,  largely 
influenced  by  foreign  reading,  towards  an  Amer- 
icanized and  philosophical  scheme. 

These  volumes  are  not  perfect,  they  contain 
far  too  much  that  should  have  been  omitted, 
and  far  too  much  of  mediocre  writing.  Yet  they 
are  deserving  of  praise  for  what  they  are,  and 
from  their  effect  on  the  community  wherein 
they  have  circulated. 

Massachusetts  is  an  old  state,  for  America, 
and  has  advanced  towards  a  mature  growth,  and 
these  volumes  indicate  that  while  agriculture 
has  hardly  kept  up  with  the  other  arts  and  sci- 
ences, yet  has  ever  advanced,  slowly,  to  be  sure, 
yet  with  a  steadiness  that  promises  future  re- 
sults. Indeed,  in  these  volumes,  we  begin  to 
see  trace  of  a  national  literature,  a  literature 
adapted  to  American  wants.  This  interpreta- 
tion is  an  encouraging  one,  as  it  is  not  through 
its  secretary,  nor  through  any  one  individual ; 
in  fact  many  leading  talkers  and  writers,  on  the 
contrary,  have  acted  as  hold-backs,  been  setting 
back  against  the  breeching  of  the  car  of  progress, 
yet  in  spite  of  this,  advnncing  culture,  the  spirit 
of  energetic  progress  has  borne  agriculture 
along  in  its  train.  What  Massachusetts  agricul- 
ture has  become  is  not  so  much  due  to  herself, 
as  to  the  times  and  the  locality  wherein  she  has 
been  circumstanced. 

We  shall  next  consider  the  societies  and  the 
aids  to  agriculture  which  centre  about  our  Na- 
tional Government,  and  in  our  list  shall  include 
efforts  which,  although  having  a  bearing  on  lit- 
erature, are  not  strictly  literary  in  their  opera- 
tions. The  Columbian  Agricultural  Society,  for 
the  promotion  of  Rural  and  Domestic  Economy, 
was  organized  at  Georgetown,  District  of  Colum- 
bia, Nov.  28th,  1809.  and  held  the  first  agricultur- 
al exhibition  in  America  in  the  form  of  a  Na- 
tional Pair,  at  Georgetown.  D.  C.,  May  10th,  1810. 
The  first  field  trial  of  implements  in  America 
was  the  plowing  match  at  the  fifth  semi-annual 
exhibition,  May  20.  1812.  After  holding  a  sixth 
successful  exhibition.  Nov.  18, 1812,  the  term  for 
which  the  society  had  been  organized  having 
expired,  it  was  dissolved  at  the  close  of  that 
year. 

These  exhibitions  and  trials  must  have  had  a 
distinct  influence,  held  so  successfully  in  close 
vicinity  to  the  seat  of  government,  and  favored 
with  the  presence  of  so  many  able  men.  As 
preceding  the  governmental  assumption  of  the 
duty  of  aiding  agriculture  through  the  patent 
office  publications,  this  organization  is  deserving 
of  notice  here.  Under  such  auspices  as  sur- 
rounded them,  these  fairs  could  not  have 
been  unintluentiai  in  moulding  agricultural 
thought. 

In  1839,  Congress,  at  the  suggestion  of  Hon. 
Henry  L.  Ellsworth.  Commissioner  of  Patents, 
appropriated  $1.000  for  the  "  collection  of  agri- 
cultural statistics,  investigations  for  promoting 
agriculture  and  rural  economy,  and  the  pro- 
curement of  cuttings  and  seeds  for  gratuitous 
distribution  among  the  farmers,"  and  here  we 
huve  the  foundation  of  the  valuable  Patent 
Office  reports  (agricultural)  which  only  ceased 
in  1862,  when  its  duties  were  passed  over  to  the 
"Department  of  Agriculture,"  then  created. 
In  1840  and  1841  this  paltry  appropriation  was 
omitted,  but  in  1842  was  renewed,  and  afterwards 
increased  very  largely.  The  agricultural  publi- 
cations of  the  Patent  Office  commences  then  in 
1839,  then  a  break  to  1842.  and  thence  appearing 
annually,  with  the  exception  of  1846,  when  the 
appropriation  and  volume  was  omitted. 


These  twenty  volumes  compare  very  favora- 
bly with  other  agricultural  publications  of  their 
times,  but  from  defective  arrangement  of  their 
matter,  and  trivial  communications  in  form 
more  suited  to  the  newspaper,  and  from  lack  of 
system  and  condensation,  have  been  valued  less 
than  they  deserve.  With  the  presence  of  a  com- 
plete index,  they  would  form  a  valuable  addition 
to  a  library.  Their  contents  are  the  product  of 
very  little  original  research,  show  but  liitle 
striking  observation,  and  are  rather 'common- 
place, as  befitting  the  state  of  agricultural 
thought  with  which  they  are  cotemporaneous. 
While  we  can  give  them  a  little  praise,  yet  they 
are  entirely  unworthy  as  the  productions  of  a 
great  government. 

By  an  act  of  Congress  approved  May  15, 1862, 
the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
was  organized,  and  entered  into  operation  the 
following  July  1st,  and  published  its  first  volume 
of  reports  for  the  same  year.  These  reports  have 
continued  annually,  although  sometimes  a  year 
or  more  behind  time,  up  to  the  present. 

In  1865,  the  Department  issued  a  series  of  pam- 
phlets, called  "Monthly  Reports,"  but  these 
have  not  been  strictly  monthly,  but  intermittent 
in  their  appearance,  several  months  being  fre- 
quently consolidated  into  one.  The  object  of 
these  reports  is  stated  to  be  the  communication 
of  topics  of  less  permanent,  (or  of  transient  in- 
terest only,)  than  those  which  appear  in  the  an- 
nual reports. 

These  publications,  although  of  value,  are  ex- 
ceedingly discreditable  to  the  Department  of 
the  Government  which  issues  them.  The  com- 
missioners have  not  been  strong  or  original 
men,  and  have  puttered  away  in  the  beaten 
tracks,  or  have  frittered  away  their  appropri- 
ations for  measures  uncalled  for  by  the  public, 
and  of  little  public  interest.  The  volumes  al- 
ready issued  are  weak  and  narrow  in  their  views, 
and  the  main  effort  has  been  apparently  to  in- 
terest rather  than  to  instruct  and  elevate  the 
farming  public.  So  iar  as  the  Department  is 
concerned  they  have  no  literary  character,  and 
such  we  must  expect  them  to  be,  until  the 
right  man  directs  their  appearance,  and  the 
party  hack,  or  man  with  influential  friends  is 
ignored  in  the  appointment,  and  true  merit 
wins.  Never  was  there  a  better  place  for  the 
right  man  to  influence  agriculture  than  here. 
Let  the  reports  be  true  reports  in  fact  as  in 
name,  and  convey  instruction  and  wisdom  as 
well  as  interest.  Let  them  leave  to  the  news- 
paper those  features  which  the  newspaper  can 
do  so  well  and  the  Department  publications  so 
illy.  Let  the  genius  at  the  head  be  sufficient  te 
demand  the  respect  of  the  liberal  farmer,  be  he 
North  or  South,  East  or  West.  Let  the  Depart- 
ment cease  doing  the  work  of  the  trader  and 
seedsman,  and  spend  its  money  to  economise 
farming  for  the  farmer,  and  let  the  result  of  its 
work  appear  in  its  reports.  It  is  a  disgrace  for 
these  reports  to  publish  the  work  of  others  with- 
out credit,  or  at  least  it  would  be  disgraceful 
for  a  high-toned  society  to  do  this,  or  even  for 
an  honest  individual.  It  is  a  disgrace  that  with 
such  expenditure  as  it  makes,  that  so  few  re- 
sults should  show.  Our  population  is  largely 
agricultural.  The  Department  was  established 
for  their  interest,  and  these  books,  misnamed 
reports,  should  clearly  succeed  in  showing  the 
benefit  they  are  to  American  agriculture.  Our 
harshest  criticism  is  that  these  reports  are  so 
far  from  what  they  should  be,  and  are  so  poorly 
correlative  with  the  circumstances  under  which 
they  originate  and  appear. 

In  1841,  a  "United  States  Agricultural  So- 
cioty  "  was  organized,  and  efforts  were  made  to 
establish  a  great  school  and  library  of  agricul- 
tural science  and  experiment  from  the  Smith- 
sonian behest.  On  the  tailure  of  the  realization 
of  this  hope,  all  interest  was  lost:  indeed,  this 
society  never  held  a  meeting:  after  its  organiza- 


34 


tlon.    Solon  Robinson,  of  New  York,  was  one  of 
the  prime  movers  of  this  effort. 

Ten  or  more  years  later  another  and  more  suc- 
cessful movement  was  initiated.  June  14th. 
1852,  a  National  Agricultural  Convention  was 
held  at  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  in  the  city  of 
Washington,  and  the  "United  States  Agricul- 
tural Society"  was  formed.  The  first  annual 
meeting  took  place  at  Washington,  Feb.  2d,  1853. 
In  July,  1857,  a  national  tield  trial  of  reapers  and 
mowers  was  held  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  Three  vol- 
ume?, under  the  title  of  "  Journal  of  the  United 
States  Agricultural  Society,"  in  8  Vols.,  ap- 
peared in  1852-3, 1854-5  and  1856-7  successively. 
The  first  two  hearing  the  imprint  of  Washington, 
the  last  of  Boston.  Another  publication  was 
the  "  Transactions  and  Monthly  Bulletin  of  the 
United  States  Agricultural  Society  for  1858," 
edited  by  Ben  Perley  Poore,  Sec'y,  Washington, 
1859.  Also  several  special  reports.  Fairs  were 
held  annually  at  various  places  from  1853  to 
I860  inclusive. 

This  attempt  at  a  National  Society  failed,  as 
its  members  were  too  far  separated  by  an  im- 
mense domain,  to  be  able  to  attend  its  meet- 
ings, or  feel  a  permanent  interest.  It,  however, 
had  a  large  influence  in  stimulating  agricultural 
thought,  and  its  transactions  may  be  generally 
criticised  as  being  no  worse  than  we  should  ex- 
pect. Indeed,  we  are  sometimes  disposed  to 
call  them  good,  but  necessarily  the  farmer  had 
to  give  place  to  the  man  of  political  or  social 
prominence,  and  the  past  literature  of  the  world 
appears  more  strangely  than  does  that  tour  of 
home  practice  and  home  surroundings. 

The  American  Pomoiogical  Society,  were  we 
treating  of  aught  outside  of  general  agriculture, 
wouM  here  demand  a  place  as  a  society  with  an 
American  literature,  and  praiseworthy  at  that. 
But  fruit  growing  is  a  specialty  so  distinct  from, 
and  so  little  influenced  by  the  farm,  that  we 
purposly  avoid  reference  to  this  and  kindred 
societies  and  publications  from  our  scheme. 
The  specialized  industries  are  far  in  advance  in- 
tellectually of  general  farrninar. 

In  1820  was  founded  the  Rhode  Island  Society 
for  the  encouragement  of  domestic  industries. 
The  publications  originating  from  this  society 
are  largely  devoted  to  manufacturing,  and  but 
comparatively  little  prominence  is  given  to  ag- 
riculture, a  course  which  would  be  anticipated 
from  the  restricted  area  of  the  state  and  the 
prominence  given  to  its  manufacturers.  We 
have,  however,  failed  to  examine  its  flies,  and 
so  pass  by  with  a  mention. 

In  18^0  also,  the  New  Hampshire  Board  of 
Agriculture  was  founded,  and  published  one 
volume,  which  is  now  excessively  rare.  Its  title 
is  the  New  Hampshire  Agricultural  Repository, 
published  by  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture, 
under  the  patronage  of  the  state  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, 8vo.,  Concord.  Printed  by  Hill  &  Moore, 
1822,  pp.  136.  A  summary  of  the  contents  of  this 
publication  is  given  in  "New  Hampshire  Agri- 
cultiire,"  Adams,  Vol.  2, 1872. 

This  effort  was  premature.  The  publication, 
judging  from  its  table  of  content",  was  common- 
place, yet  its  leading  contributor,  Kev.  Hum- 
phrey Moore,  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of 
considerable  force,  and  alive  to  the  necessity  of 
the  time. 

In  1870  a  new  board  was  organized  by  the  leg- 
islature, and  the  first  Annual  Report  appeared 
in  1871,  and  has  been  annually  followed  hy  its 
successors.  These  reports  have  some  good  es- 
says, and  some  useful  hints,  yet  they  are  not 
too  harshly  judged  by  the  term  ornate  and  com- 
monplace. Indeed,  we  fear  that  our  judgment 
may  be  considered  too  severe,  but  our  position  is 
to  state  thimrs  as  they  seem  to  be,  and  not  in 
connection  with  the  circumstances  under  which 
they  appear. 

No  other  art  that  we  are  familiar  with  has,  on 
the  average,  received  such  fragmentary  and 


shallow  aid  as  agriculture  appears  to  have  sub- 
mitted to  for  the  past  few  generations. 

In  1850,  the  "  New  Hampshire  State  Agricul- 
tural Society  "  was  incorporated.  This  society 
has  published  ten  volumes  of  transactions,  but 
we  are  not  familar  with  them.  The  volumes 
bear  the  imprint  of  Concord,  Manchester  and 
Dover.  From  a  surperttcial  examination,  our 
impressions  are  that  they  fall  far  short  ot  what 
they  could  have  been  or  should  be.  Is  it  a  won- 
der, indeed,  that  they  should  receive  the  same 
criticism  as  wonld  be  given  to  the  farming  which 
they  exemplify  ? 

In  1841,  the  Louisiana  State  Fair  Association 
was  organized,  and  reorganized  March,  1867. 
We  have  never  found  mention  of  any  publica- 
tions. 

The  Ohio  State  Board  of  Agriculture  was  or- 
ganized Feb.  26,  1846,  Its  first  report  comprise 
proceedings  from  1846  to  '49.  Its  last  is  entitled 
"Twenty-ninth.  Annual  Report,"  &c.,  for  the 
year  1874. 

These  reports  are  among  the  most  valuable 
that  we  have  in  our  library,  but  hardly  as  Am- 
erican. They  receive  their  tone  largely  from 
the  character  of  their  editor,  and  the  state  agri- 
cultural tone  is  largely  concealed.  We  think, 
however,  that  intelligent,  thoughtful  agriculture 
is  not  as  common  in  Ohio  as  it  should  be,  and  that 
these  reports  certainly  indicate  it.  These  reports 
part  far  from  the  Commonplace,  not  so  much 
through  the  efforts  of  the  farmers,  but  through 
the  good  judgment  of  the  editor,  who  seeks 
Irom  miscellaneous  sources  material  for  his 
reports  which  shall  be  educational  to  his  readers. 
In  this  there  has  been  good  success,  and  we 
know  not  of  another  place  to  turn  to,  to  obtain 
translations  of  valuable  German  experiments. 
The  abundant  appendix  contains  usually  the 
cream  of  the  annual  agricultural  literature.  In 
this,  Mr.  Klippart  has  been  wise,  but  we  think 
had  been  wiser,  had  the  agricultural  thought 
also  of  the  population  been  more  stimulated 
through  meetings  and  discussions^thaii  by  a  fair 
and  exhibition.  In  this,  however,  Mr.  Klippart 
is  powerless,  except  as  an  agent,  and  our  judg- 
ment is  from  a  different  point  of  view  than  his. 
In  ]86i  a  State  Dairymen's  Association  was 
formed,  which  has  held  annual  meetings,  pub- 
ished  annual  reports,  and  has  been  productive 
jf  much  good.  It  is  to  these  specialized  indus- 
;ries  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  strongest  de- 
velopment of  agricultural  thought,  and  in  dairy- 
ng  and  fruit  culture  we  need  never lo®k  in  vain. 
When  our  general  agricultural  literature  at- 
tains the  present  intellectual  position  of  her 
pecialized  industries,  the  farmer  may  well  feel 
jroud. 

In  1847,  Delaware  established  a  State  Agricul- 
tural Society,  but  has  published  no  report;  yet 
me  of  the  county  societies  at  least,  the  "  New 
CastleCounty  Agricultural  Society  and  Institute, 
formed  in  1835,  published  its  proceedings  in  a 
pamphlet  form  as  early  as  1843, 8vo.,  pp.  58. 

In  1848,  the  "  Maryland  State  Agricultural  So- 
ciety was  formed.  Nov.  14, 1866,  the  Maryland 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Associatic  n  was 
organized.  We  find  no  record  of  any  transac- 
tions or  publications. 

With  1«50  we  commence  an  era  of  agricultural 
nterest,  and  each  successive  year  new  states 
fall  into  line  by  their  agricultural  organization. 
In  1849.  the  Michigan  State  Agricultural  So- 
ciety was  organized,  and  received  its  charter 
April  2d  of  the  same  year.  Its  first  volume  of 
transactions  was  for  1851-2,  although  we  find  ac- 
cess to  Vol.  3  for  1851,  8  vo.,  Lansing,  1853. 

The  State  Board  of  Agriculture  was  organ'zpd 
by  act  of  legislature  in  1861,  and  published  its 
first  annual  report  for  1862  ana  annually  there- 
Iter. 

The  society  reports  we  need  scarcely  notice 
here.  The  board  reports  are  noteworthy  on  ac- 
count of  the  small  membership  of  the  Board  of 


Agriculture,  and  the  consequences  upon  their 
publication.  Indeed,  we  hardly  have  represent- 
ed the  agriculture  of  the  state  so  much  as  that 
of  a  few  individuals.  This  fact  gives  these  re- 
ports a  higher  character  among  their  class,  how- 
ever it  may  detract  from  their  historic,  philo- 
sophic character.  In  these  reports  we  nnd  evi- 
dence of  the  strong  influence  of  the  Agricultural 
College  upon  the  printed  agriculture  of  the 
state,  and  this  is  as  it  should  be.  Except  for  the 
differentintion  which  is  brought  about  through 
age,  and  to  this  extent  gives  an  old  community 
an  advantage  over  a  younger,  we  would  be  in- 
clined to  place  Michigan  in  the  front  rank  as  an 
agricultural  state,  forming  our  judgment  upon 
the  effort  of  the  leaders  of  her  agricultural 
thought. 

A  little  youngness,  no  fault  implied  here, 
places  these  reporrs  absolutely  behind  some  of 
those  we  have  already  reviewed,  but  relatively 
to  her  surroundings',  Michigan  reports  occupy 
a  front  place. 

The  Wisconsin  Agricultural  Society  was  or- 
ganized March  13,1851.  We  find  access  to  Vol. 
3  for  1853.  Vol.  4,  1854,  Vol.  5,  I860,  Vol.  6.  1861, 
Vol.  8. 1861-9,  including  8  years,  Vol.  10, 1871,  and 
thence  annually. 

There  has  been  a  commendable  activity  in 
agricultural  thought  HS  evidenced  by  the  late 
volumes  of  this  society,  hut  the  stream  was 
rather  shallow  as  would  be  expected  from  a 
young  state,  with  abundant  reeouict  s  requiring 
development.  As  with  some  other  of  our  West- 
ern States,  Agriculture  is  in  a  measure  in  a 
transition  stage,  and  the  true  raising  of  crops  is 
complicated  by  questions  of  a  more  political  or 
social  character.  These  latter  are  of  great  im- 
portance, but  relatively  to  the  crop  question 
they  are  now  receiving  from  farmers  more  than 
their  usual  proportion  of  attention.  Yet  agri- 
cultural thought  may  perhaps  be  developed  as 
well  sometimes  in  off  lines  as  in  no  defined  line 
at  all,  and  we  of  the  East  should  be  cautious  of 
a  too  harsh  judgment. 

In  1851  the  Indiana  State  Board  of  Agriculture 
was  organized.  Its  first  report  was  published  in 
1852.  Its  ninth  report  is  for  the  years  1863-67,  in- 
clusive, and  thence  annually. 

AVe  have  on  our  shelves  the  reports  for  1870, 
71-72,  and  if  by  these  the  rest  are  to  be  judged, 
we  must  coniess  that  they  have  not  character 
enough  fwr  criticism.  Indeed  ihey  come  as 
near  being  absolutely  worthless  as  a  tew  hun- 
dred pages  of  printed  matter  can  be,  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  the  rag-money  parry  of  Indiana, 
if  it  once  gets  power,  will  do  the  public  the 
mercy  of  running  these  volumes  through  the 
pulper  and  converting  into  pa  per  money,  among 
the  first.  Perhaps  the  destruction  of  so  much 
emptiness  might  be  considered  as  an  equiva- 
lent in  small  part  for  the  ills  of  a  measure, 
otherwise  to  be  commended  by  none  who  think 
in  whole  thoughts  rather  than  in  fragments. 

The  Virginia  State  Agricultural  Society  was 
ornanlzeil  February  1852,  Volume  I.  of  the  Jmir- 
alot  Transactions  was  issued  in  1853,  Vol.  2inlS57 
and  Vol.  U  in  1856;  at  least  thus  they  rend  m  the 
copies  preserve'i  'nthe  library  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Hoard  of  Agriculture.  We  find  no  mention 
of  any  others.  For  this  we  are  sorry,  as  the 
quality  of  these  three  volumes  make  us  wish  for 
more.  They  are  American ;  t  his  is  somet  hing  in 
their  favor.  They  are  high-toned;  and  this  is 
more.  They  have  a  certain  earnestness  of  their 
own,  and  a  certain  character.  Yet  there  is 
enough  lacking  to  show  the  deficiency  of  the 
state  wherein  they  »vere  issued.  We  note  that 
the  appeals  are  to  an  aristocratic  class,  rather 
than  to  t  he  laborer ;  not  in  words  so  much  as  in 
tone.  We  note  the  dependence  of  thought  on 
Southern  industries,  a  localization  of  ideas 
which  should  be  cosmopolitan.  We  find  erross, 
and  why  not?  We  find  verbiage ;  and  why  note 
such  a  frequent  occurence?  These  volumes  are 


interesting,  and  have  value.  They  are  good, 
without  being  very  good.  They  are  bad,  without 
being  very  bad.  They  are  sufficient  of  both  for 
criticism,  and  even  this  should  be  considered 
praise. 

The  Connecticut  State  Agricultural  Society 
was  organized  and  chartered  June  22—1852.  It 
has  published  transactions  annually  for  1854  and 
1859  inclusive,  to  our  knowledge.  These  are 
principally  the  reports  of  their  fairs,  collater- 
al matter,  and  although  excellent  examples, 
comparatively  speaking,  of  their  class  yet  do 
not  deserve,  as  a  series,  any  further  of  our 
space  or  time. 

The  Connecticut  State  Board  of  agriculture 
met  for  organization  August  1, 1866,  and  pub- 
lished its  first  report  for  this  year.  Its  fifth  re- 
port was  lor  1871,  none  having  been  made  in 

1870.  its  "  ninth   annual   report,"   bears  date 
1S75. 

These  reports  are  among  the  most  valuable 
of  our  agricultural  literature,  and  are  note- 
worthy as  coming  the  nearest  to  what  we  con- 
sider a  report  should  be,  than  any  others  which 
we  have  examined.  The  leading  idea  is  to  have 
annual  meetings  lor  discussion,  whereat  lead- 
ing men  are  ensured  to  be  present ;  have  a  defi- 
nite subject  assigned,  as  near  as  may  be.  for 
each  jenr;  and  the  publication  of  the  result  of 
these  meetings  ;  of  the  results  of  special  offi- 
cial study,  such  as  of  the  chemist,  botanist, 
entomologist,  and  pomologist;  and  of  a  little 
statistical  data.  We  hence  find  in  these  reports 
advanced  scientific  views,  and  the  advanced 
farmers  practice  combined.  We  cannot  say 
that  these  reports  contain  more  original  matter 
than  some  ot  hers.  Massachusetts,  for  example, 
but  what  they  do  contain  is  leso  dilated,  and 
heuce  more  acceptable  as  far  as  it  goes.  There 
is  more  to  be  hoped  lor  in  the  future  from  these 
Connecticut  reports  than  from  those  of  any 
other  one  state,  as  indications  are  at  present, 
for  Mr.  Gold,  tneir  secretary,  has  the  wisdom 
which  is  allied  to  progress,  and  while  conserva- 
tive, is  neither  slow  nor  jealous  of  younger 
men.  Ah  I  this  jealousy  of  the  older  of  the 
younger;  this  brake  on  agricultural  progress: 
this  teeling,  which  leads  some  men  to  try  and 
maintain  their  own  positions  by  trampling 
down  opposition,  rather  than  by  exciting  them- 
seivts  for  greater  knowledge. 

The  Illinois  State  Agricultural  Society  was 
organized  in  1853.  and  ceased  to  exist  April  17, 

1871,  when  the  Department  of  Agriculture  of 
the  state  of  Illinois  succeeded  to  its  place.    The 
flr»t  transactions  of   the  society  were  Vol.  1, 
1853-4,  Springfield,  1855.     Vol.   Ill,  1858-9.     Vol. 
I  v.  1859-60,  Vol.  V.  1861-64,  Vol.  VI.  1865-6.    VoL 
VII.  1867-8,  Vol.  VIII.  1869-70. 

In  1862,  the  society  started  a  journal,  under 
the  title.  "  Journal  of  the  Illinois  Stare  Agri- 
cultural Society."  it  continued  for  two  years 
only.  The  Department  of  Agriculture  reports 
commence  witn  Vol.  IX.  old  series.  Vol.  1,  new 
8erie-».  8vo.  Springfield,  1872.  We  have  seen 
Vol.  X.  for  1872,  Vol.  XL  for  1873  and  Vol.  Xtl. 
for  1874.  These  reports  are  of  little  value  ex- 
cept as  recording  the  exhibitors  at  the  shows. 
The  Department  of  Agriculture  reports  seem 
even  greater  failures  than  those  of  the  society. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  fertile  soil  alone 
do  not  determine  the  largest  crops,  but  the 
right  application  of  intelligence  towards  the 
development  of  this  fertility  with  crops,  it  is 
seen  how  essential  education  must  be  to  the 
farmer.  In  1873  the  United  States  Department 
report  of  the  average  corn  crop  of  Illinois  with 
her  fertile  prairies  is  bur,  21  bushels  per  acre,  as 
compared  wirh  Massachusetts  35  bushels  per 
acre.  The  increase  is  a  direct  outcome  of  bet- 
ter practice,  arising  from  a  more  educated  pub- 
lic. I  do  not  speak  of  common  school  alone,  but 
of  farm  education. 


art 


Let  us  see  I  Indiana,  an  average  corn  crop  in 
1873  of  28.6  bushels  per  acre.  Illinois  as  above 
21  bushels.  These  states  are  two  wherein  the 
agricultural  reports  are  of  little  worth,  and  have 
corresponding  little  influence,  themselves  trans- 
cripts of  public  condition,  th«  blind  not  even 
Btriving  to  lead  the  blind.  Ohio,  an  excellent 
agricultural  report  and  35  bushels  of  corn  per 
acre.  Michigan  also  a  fine  report  and  31  bushels 
per  acre.  Wisconsin  also  a  good  report  and  30 
bushels  per  acre.  Indeed  we  might  test  our 
judgment  of  the  literature  of  our  report  by  the 
average  crop  returns  of  the  census,  and  be  not 
even  laughably  wrong.  Ye  farmer  hearers,  note 
this! 

The  Georgia  State  Agricultural  Society  was 
chartered  in  1853.  We  find  no  publications.  The 
Southern  Central  Agricultural  Society  was  or- 
ganized in  1846,  chartered  in  1849,  and  issued  one 
volume  of  408  pages  about  1850.  Of  late  years 
the  Georgia  Agricultural  Society  has  held  meet- 
ings for  discussion,  and  have  published  their 
proceedings  in  a  pamphlet  form.  These  prints 
show  an  agricultural  interest  which  indicate 
progress  and  are  creditable. 

The  Agricultural  Society  of  the  State  of  Min- 
nesota was  organized  Jan.  4, 1854.  We  have  no 
knowledge  of  any  transactions  being  issued. 

In  1854  also,  the  California  State  Agricultural 
Society  was  organized.  The  early  reports  were 
distributed  in  pamphlet  form  previous  to  1859 
and  were  but  little  more  than  a  record  of  the  fairs. 
We  have  seen  "  Official  Report  of  the  California 
State  Agricultural  Society,  3d  Annual  Fair, 
1856,"  8vo.,  pp.  80.  Do.  Fourth  Annual  Fair,  1857, 
pp.  190.  Transactions  of  the  California  State 
Agricultural  Society,  8vo.,  1858.  Do.  1859-60.  In 
1862  the  first  volume  of  transations  under  direc- 
tions of  the  California  Board  of  Agriculture, 
8vo.,1863,pp.  272.  Do.  1863,  do.  1868  and  1869  in 
one  volume ;  do.  for  1870  and  '71  in  one  volume ; 
do,  for  1872.  » 

These  reports  show  remarkable  zeal  and  a  re- 
markable development  of  agriculture.  They 
have  not  as  yet  become  pruned  down  into  shape, 
but  offer  a  rampant  growth,  which  requires  di- 
rection. While  we  cannot  speak  highly  of  their 
literary  character,  we  commend  them  as  a  fu- 
ture promise. 

The  Alabama  State  Agricultural  Society  was 
organized  Jan.  10, 1855,  and  chartered  Feb.  14, 
1856.  We  cannot  hear  of  any  publications. 

The  Iowa  State  Agricultural  Society  was  or- 
ganized June,  1854.  It  published  a  "  Report  and 
Proceedings  of  the  Iowa  State  Agricultural 
Society,  &c.,  for  1855."  Report  of  the  Thud 
Annual  Exhibition,  &c.,  1856,  and  a  "Fourm 
Annual  Report,"  &c.,  for  1857,  and  thence  an- 
nually. These  reports  are  as  commonplace  as 
need  be,  without  being  absolutely  bad.  They 
seem  to  contain  very  little  mature  thought. 
Ttieir  general  characteristic  indicate  realness. 
Yet  why  so  here  rather  than  elsewhere,  I  hardly 
can  conjecture. 

We  find  Maine  quite  prominent  in  the  literary 
field.  The  first  publication  seems  to  have  been 
Transactions  of  the  Agricultural  Societies  in  the 
Stare  of  Maine  for  1850, 1851,  and  1852.  Parti, 
arranged  from  official  returns  by  E.  Holmes, 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  8vo., 
Agusra,  1853.,  pp.  407.  The  same  tor  1.854.  "Re- 
port of  the  Secretary  of  the  Maine  State  Agri- 
cultural Society  aud  Transactions  of  the  Several 
County  Societies  for  the  year  1855".  This  is  the 
first  report  of  the  State  Society.  The  report  of 
the  Maine  Society  for  the  years  in  which  the 
fairs  were  held  are  to  be  found  in  the  Abstract  of 
Returns  of  the  Agricultural  Societies  of  Maine, 
published  separately  and  as  an  appendix  to  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  reports.  The  Board  ot  Ag- 
riculture was  established  April  1, 1856,  and  pub- 
lished its  first  report,  "  Agriculture  of  Maine," 
for  this  year,  and  thence  annually.  S.  L.  Goodal 
was  secretary  tor  the  first  17  volumes,  and  then 
S.  i».  Boardman. 


These  volumes  have  had  a  marked  influence 
on  Maine  agriculture,  and  have  a  high  value. 
While  not  to  be  compared  in  many  respects  with 
some  of  the  reports  that  we  have  reviewed, 
yet  they  have  a  character  of  their  own,  as  re- 
flecting in  part  the  character  of  their  population. 
In  them  we  can  trace  the  waves  of  agricultural 
excitement  as  they  have  passed  over  the  com- 
munity, and  there  is  an  atmosphere  of  simplicity 
and  candor  which  is  rather  charming.  Indeed, 
their  contributors  are  in  earnest  to  improve 
Maine  agriculture,  and  they  go  at  the  subject 
earnestly.  They  are  credulous  with  themselves 
and  suspicious  of  others.  They  ever  seek,  and 
yet  ever  dread  the  new. 

They  are  deficient,  however,  in  the  way  of 
most  others  in  not  seeking  definite  facts  and 
definite  replies  to  nature.  They  are  rather 
opinionated,  and  trustful  of  impressions.  Often, 
however,  we  find  a  strong  article,  and  of  late  we 
see  a  tendency  to  seek  the  advanced  science  of 
the  day.  As  some  reports  might  have  the  epithet 
"suburban"  applied  to  them  as  a  stray  expres- 
sion conveying  a  stronger  meaning  than  a  dozen 
sentences  so  may  we  call  these  volumes  "rustic." 
We  would  be  sorry  to  lose  one  file,  and  would 
retain  them  longer  than  very  many  others. 

The  Kentucky  State  Agricultural  Society  was 
organized  in  1850.  It  published  a  "  Transactions 
and  First  Report,"  1856-9, 2  Vols.,  8vo,,  Frankfort, 
1&57-60.  No  reports  published  since  1861,  and  in 
1867  the  secretary  writes,  "We  have  just  been 
able  to  hold  a  fair  yearly  in  order  to  keep  the  or- 
ganization alive."  We  have  never  seen  a  copy 
of  these  reports,  and  know  nothing  of  their 
character. 

We  find  evidence  of  a  "North  Carolica  Agri- 
cultural Society,''  in  two  volumes  of  "Transac- 
tions," said  to  have  been  for  1857  and  1858.  But 
we  can  give  no  further  information. 

In  1864  the  Colorado  Agricultural  society  was 
incorporated.  Its  3d  fair  was  at  Denver,  in  1868. 
We  find  mention  of  transactions  for  1870  and  '71, 
but  we  have  not  seen  them. 

In  1864  the  New  England  Agricultural  Society 
was  organized.  But  two  volumes  of  transactions 
have  been  published,  one  in  1864  the  other  in 
1865.  These  publications  are,  however,  of  little 
account,  except  as  showing  the  influence  of  a 
progressive  spirit  at  the  first,  which  soon,  how- 
ever died  out.  The  transactions  for  1864  are 
taken  up  with  the  account  of  the  exhibition  and 
with  essays,  showing  carefulness  of  prepara- 
tion, and  a  good  intent  throughout.  The  second 
transactions  are  likewise  a  report  of  the  exhibi- 
tion, but  free  from  any  literary  effort  whatso- 
ever, except  what  is  copied  from  a  foreign  jour- 
nal. Since  that  date,  annual  exhibitions  have 
been  held,  but  no  repons  published,  and  the  so- 
ciety has  been  exercising  an  unfavorable  influ- 
ence upon  New  England  agriculture  from  being 
made  use  of  as  a  political  engine  for  the  advan- 
tage of  its  permanent  officials,  who  are  usually 
recognized  as  forming  a  ring;  a  ring  so  close  that 
the  majority  of  the  officials  even,  much  less  any 
of  the  society,  have  had  but  little  part  in  giv- 
ing tone  or  character  to  the  socieiy  through 
their  acts ;  a  ring  so  close,  that  even  the  ordi- 
nary practice  of  having  a  treasurer's  report  with 
vouchers  has  been  omitted  tor  years;  a  ring  of 
extravagance,  and  a  ring  of  irresponsibility  ;  a 
ring  which  has  given  a  flippant  tone  to  agricul- 
tural writings,  wherever  it  could  have  any  in- 
fluence. The  New  England  Agricultural  Society 
has  influenced  our  New  England  agricultural 
literature,  but  to  its  injury.  It  has  published 
sinceits  first  volume  nothing  whatsoever  of  merit. 
It  has  given  encouragement  through  the  press  in 
connection  with  its  exhibitions  to  the  most 
venial  elements. 

In  1865  the  Missouri  State  Board  of  Agriculture 
appt-areu  m  the  drat  annual  report.  These  re- 
ports have  been  continued  to  dale,  and  are 
rendered  of  great  excellence  by  the  reports  of 


37 


their  state  entomologist,  Prof.  Riley.  It  is  rare 
to  find  so  much  practical  science  as  has  appeared 
here,  and  this  effort  of  an  individual  sheds  luster 
on  the  state. 

About  1868  Nebraska  must  have  established 
her  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  tor  we  find  her 
Third  Annual  Report  tor  1870.  We  have  never 
met  with  any  agricultural  publicatipns  from 
this  state. 

The  Board  of  Agriculture  of  Vermont  was 
established  through  legislative  act,  March  22, 
1870,  and  was  organized  Jan.  19, 187L  Its  first 
annual  report  appeared  for  1872,  and  the  second 
for  1873  and  '74.  These  reports  afford  pleasant 
reading  and  offer  a  little  information,  and  are 
rather  good.  We  are  at  fault,  however,  to  refer 
to  the  common  place  in  enough  different  terms  to 
prevent  tautology.  Yet  these  reports  of  Ver- 
mont a  re  not  discreditable;  they  show  evidence  of 
youngness,  but  yeta  power  of  growth,  and  we  ex- 
pect shortly  to  see  them  attain  that  maturity  of 
which  they  offer  promise.  The  titles  of  their  sub- 
jects are  encouraging  and  hopeful.  In  their 
treatment  we  find  traces  of  much  dependence  of 
the  authors  upon  others.  It  is  one  thing  to  write 
to  order ;  it  is  another  to  write  because  we  have 
something  to  tell.  The  educated  public  call 
these  two  things  different. 

In  1871  the  Northwestern  Dairymen's  Associ- 
ation published  the  report  of  their  proceedings 
at  their  fifth  annual  meeting,  8vo.,  Elgin,  1871, 
pp.  72.  The  literature  represented  by  these  re- 
ports up  to  date  is  American,  and  has  been 
largely  educational.  In  1872  the  Kansas  State 
Board  of  Agriculture  published  a  volume  of 
transactions.  The  Fourth  Annual  Report  for 
1875  is  mainly  occupied  with  a  census  of  the 
state,  yet  it  is  a  strong  move  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, as  it  endeavors  to  educate  the  farmer 
through  the  eye,  to  the  connections  between 
statistics  an  i  practical  agriculture.  While  crude 
and  incomplete,  this  etf  ort  of  Kansas  deserves 
most  hearty  commendation.  In  1862  a  State 
Agricultural  Society  was  organized,  but  we 
learn  of  no  publications. 

In  1874  the  First  Annual  Report  of  the  New 
Jersey  Board  of  Agriculture  appeared,  but  we 
have  seen  no  copy.  The  New  Jersey  State  Ag- 
ricultural Society  was  founded  many  years  be- 
fore, for  we  find  that  in  1865  or  6  it  was  changed 
into  a  joint  stock  association.  We  find  mention 
of  a  report  in  1858,  another  1859,  as  also  in  1860. 
Then  a  break.  In  1873  a  report  was  published, 
8vo.,  Newark,  N.  J.,  1873,  pp.  188. 

We  have  now  completed  our  unsatisfactory 
task.  We  have  endeavored  to  use  our  best  lit- 
erary and  agricultural  judgment,  and  we  feel 
conscious  of  a  freedom  from  envy  or  malice.  It 
we  have  judged  harshly,  no  one  will  feel  it 
more  acutely  than  ourselves.  If  we  have  spoken 
unwisely,  yet  truthfully,  we  shall  seek  support 
from  our  own  consciousness  of  rectitude. 

It  ill  behooves  any  one,  however,  to  approach 
this  task  with  as  little  preparation  as  we  have 
given;  yet  it  seemed  proper  that  something 
should  be  done  this  Centennial  year,  which  would 
serve  ut  least  as  a  nucleus;  or  say  as  a  spur  to 
further  work  caused  by  a  revolt  against  its  de- 
ficiencies. If  this  is  accomplished  by  us,  it  will 
be  reward  sufficient. 

What  is  an  American  Agricultural  Literature, 
and  what  should  it  be?  is  a  very  pertinent  in- 
quiry and  a  very  fit  conclusion  to  our  essay.  We 
should  reply  that  such  a  literature  is  a  product 
of  the  American  fields  and  American  life  and 
American  surroundings,  as  distinguished  from 
an  imported  article,  with  a  counterfeit  trade- 
mark. The  literature  which  springs  from  a  for- 
eign source  can  never  be  the  same  as  that  origi- 
nating from  home.  The  author  who  seeks  ma- 
terial (inspiration  allowable)  wholly  from  foreign 
results,  can  scarcely  hope  to  produce  work  ap- 
plicable to  the  cunuitions  of  his  home.  The  wor£ 
should  be  boru  01  tue  uian  as  he  is,  not  as  a  poor 


judgment  would  have  him  be.  American  Dairy- 
ing has  given  us  an  American  literature.  Amer- 
ican Pomology  is  another  instance  of  a  national 
pursuit  furnishing  national  writings.  So  also  in 
gardening  and  floriculture,  we  have  a  recognized 
American  standard.  In  agriculture  proper,  in 
stock  raising,  etc.,  we  desire  just  such  a  result. 
We  require  a  nationalized  literature,  and  the  in- 
dications are  that  this  Centennial  year  may  af- 
ford a  commencement  time.  We  do  not  require 
to  reject  foreign  thought  or  foreign  influence ; 
all  that  is  good  should  be  ours,  wherever  pro- 
duced, and  the  American  citizen,  filled  with  the 
pride  of  worth  and  self  respect,  should  ever  be 
willing  to  seek  aid  wherever  it  may  be  found, 
without  regard  to  geographical  or  social  or  lit- 
erary lines.  But  what  we  learn  from  outside, 
should  be  carefully  fitted  into  its  new  surround- 
ings, and  take  on  that  adaptability  which  is  the 
secret  of  success.  When  our  literature  connects 
science  and  practice,  it  will  be  a  success.  When 
it  connects  all  science  with  American  practice, 
and  predicts  results  which  prove  successful,  then 
it  is  a  successful  American,  as  distinct  from  a 
foreign  literature. 

In  our  society  and  government  publications 
we  have  much  to  hope  from  in  the  future.  These 
will  advance  step  in  step  with  the  population, 
and  act  as  a  school  for  the  most  forward  minds. 
Let  us  hope  that  the  men  in  charge  will  recog- 
nize their  true  province  to  shape  agricultural 
thought  so  that  it  may  become  Americanized, 
i.  e.,  adapted  to  our  circumstances.  Let  us  hope 
that  they  shall  see  fit  to  relegate  to  the  news- 
paper all  that  which  is  but  temporary  in  its  in- 
fluence and  interest,  and  keep  their  publications 
for  articles  of  more  than  temporary  use ;  arti- 
cles which  mark  progress  and  have  a  historical 
value. 

The  Secretary  of  a  Board  of  Agriculture  occu 
pies  a  most  honorable  position,  and  a  responsible* 
one.  Of  him  much  should  be  required.  Our  ag- 
riculturist should  ever  ask,  is  he  doing  his  whole 
duty?  If  not,  let  him  be  replaced  by  he  who 
will.  This  office  is  at  the  front  of  our  agricult- 
ural progress  and  has  a  large  and  enduring  in- 
fluence. If  this  influence  is  not  being  excited, 
or  if  it  is  excited  in  the  wrong  direction,  agri- 
cultural reformers  should  see  it,  know  it,  act  on 
it. 

I  would  that  all  could  feel  with  me  the  neces- 
sity for  a  higher  agriculture.  I  would  that  jeal- 
ousy could  be  sunk  in  the  nobler  inspiration  of 
true  agricultural  work.  I  would  that  our  lead- 
ing minds  could  act  together  for  the  common 
good,  and  that  agriculture  could  occupy  the  po- 
sition by  right  hers— the  first  of  the  arts,  the  first 
of  the  sciences.  It  is  not  locality,  but  brain 
work,  which  is  to  secure  agricultural  followers 
the  rights  which  are  theirs.  The  agricultural 
papers,  the  agricultural  societies,  our  agricult- 
ural colleges,  our  better  farmers,  our  intellect- 
ual men  fond  of  a  country  life,  all  have  much  in 
common,  can  receive  mutual  help,  and  be 
brought  into  closer  relationship.  The  question 
must  be  not  can  we  do  it ;  but  do  we  wish  it.  All 
rights  are  secured  through  knowledge.  He  who 
knows  the  most  has  the  greatest  power.  The 
intelligence  of  the  farmer  must  be  a  high  one, 
to  properly  use  many-faced  nature;  to  properly 
subdue  her  opposing  forces  py  the  offsetting 
against  them  her  own  favoriug  forces.  And 
finally  our  agricultural  literature  has  a  close 
relationship  with  agricultural  conquest,  and  a 
higher  agricultural  living. 


THE   TRUE  "WORK  OF  NATIONAL, 
INDUSTRIAL   SCHOOLS. 

[Read  before  the  National  Agricultural  Con- 
gress at  the  Centennial  Exposition.  September 
2Gth,  by  A.  8.  Welch,  President  Iowa  Agricult- 
ural College.] 

The  national  industrial  coljege  now  estab- 
lished in  nearly  every  state  of  the  Union  is  the 
offspring  of  congressional  enactment.  It  derives 
its  origin,  plan  and  purpose  from  an  organizing 
act  of  the  congressional  grant,  and  this  act  gives 
to  the  whole  project  a  clear  and  definite  outline 
by  declaring  in  precise  terms  that  "the  leading 
object  shall  be,  without  excluding  other  scien- 
tific and  classical  studies,  and  including  military 
tactics,  to  teach  suoh  branches  of  learning  as  are 
related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts,  in 
such  a  manner  as  the  legislatures  of  the  states 
may  respectively  prescribe,  in  order  to  promote 
the  liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  indus- 
trial classes  in  the  several  pursuits  and  profes- 
sions of  life." 

Now  it  will  be  universally  conceded  at  the  out- 
set that  the  entire  spirit  of  the  national  school 
so  created,  its  central  aims,  its  faculty,  equip- 
ment, courses  of  study  and  methods  of  instruc- 
tion must  all  be  made  to  conform  to  a  just  inter- 
pretation of  this  langauge.  And  all  conflicting 
opinions  as  to  its  real  mission,  and  all  complaints 
of  its  drifting  therefrom  which  have  beea  vocif- 
erated throughout  the  land  must  be  settled  by 
the  law  that  gave  it  birth  as  the  supreme  and 
final  arbiter.  And  this  law,  though  liberal  enough 
in  its  wording  to  admit  of  variation  in  manner 
to  suit  the  varying  soil  and  productions  of  differ- 
ent states,  is  explicit  beyond  cavil  as  to  its  grand 
intent  and  object.  But  manifest  as  is  the  mean- 
ing of  the  congressional  enactment  from  which 
it  sprang,  no  great  educational  scheme  was  ever 
so  buffeted  by  contradictory  theories  respecting 
its  actual  purpose.  From  first  to  last  it  has  been 
found  impossible  to  give  to  the  general  public  a 
correct  conception  of  the  real  enterprise  which 
the  law  sets  forth.  Multitudes  m  their  lack  of 
experience  have  evolved  the  new  national  school 
out  of  their  own  fancies,  and  then  demanded 
that  the  actual  one  should  realize  the  capricious 
picture.  Though  embracing  by  the  express 
terms  of  the  grant  the  entire  circle  of  the  indus- 
trial sciences,  the  agricultural  journals  from 
ocean  to  ocean  have  assumed  it  to  be  a  school  of 
agriculture  pure  and  simple.  Thougn  limited  by 
language  without  ambiguity  to  the  teaching  of 
industrial  science  as  its  leading  object,  not  a  few 
have  claimed  that  it  shall  be  made  a  school  of 
industrial  art  which  shall  unite  in  its  curriculum 
the  smallest  modicum  of  science  with  the  largest 
modicum  of  practice  in  the  handicrafts.  Some 
have  even  developed  the  theory  that  the  new 
scheme  was  to  be  a  mere  model  farm  whereon 
reluctant  boys,  untrammeled  by  the  study  of 
science,  should  be  drilled  in  the  manual  opera- 


tions of  agriculture  and  made  to  earn  their  liv- 
ing. On  the  other  hand,  many  have  distinctly 
declared  that  the  national  school  was  to  be  a 
grand  depository  of  general  learning  unlimited 
in  quantity  and  kind  where  the  industrial  classes 
might  find  any  thing  they  wanted  in  the  educa- 
tional line  without  stint  and  without  expense. 
Meantime  many  a  specialist  in  agriculture  has 
revealed  the  belief  that  the  mere  educational 
work  of  the  college  was  of  minor  moment— that 
it  was  rather  a  sort  of  agricultural  station  where 
experiments  in  his  particular  branch  should  be 
conducted  and  their  results  promulgated  at  the 
public  cost.  Finally,  amid  all  these  conflicting 
views,  the  comparatively  few  who  had  gained  a 
just  conception  of  its  leading  object  demanded, 
nevertheless,  that  the  whole  enterprise  should, 
Minerva  like,  spring  into  life  in  full  panoply  and 
enter  at  once  upon  those  higher  functions  whien 
are  to  be  reached  only  after  the  successful  pro- 
gress of  years. 

Assailed  on  all  sides  by  such  jarring  opinions 
and  under  the  necessity  of  bringing  at  once  a 
host  of  complicated  departments  into  running 
order,  the  organizers  of  the  national  industrial 
schools  in  every  state  had  in  hand  a  stupendous 
task— a  task  which  they  could  carry  to  success- 
ful completion  only  so  far  as  they  should  be 
guided  by  a  calm  and  careful  questioning  of  the 
law.  And  so  far  as  the  courses  of  study  are  con- 
cerned the  law  responds  in  la  iguage  sufficiently 
explicit.  "The  leading  object  shall  be  to  teach 
such  branches  of  learning  as  are  related  to  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts."  These  branches 
of  learning  are  nearly  all  modern  sciences  that 
may  be  indicated  with  the  utmost  precision.  To 
begin  with  them  the  law  prescribes  for  the  cur- 
ricula of  the  national  school,  the  industrial 
sciences,  and  not  the  industrial  arts.  It  does  not 
require  the  teaching  of  trades,  handicrafts  or 
manual  dexterities  of  whatever  sort.  Pruning 
and  grafting,  plowing,  planting,  harvesting  crops 
and  handling  stock,  though  demanding  skill,  are 
not  branches  of  learning,  and  instruction  in 
these  ought  not  therefore  to  burden  the  re- 
sources of  the  national  college.  Only  those 
higher  artistic  processes  wherein  science  is 
taught  in  its  application  to  practice  should  be 
rigidly  included  in  the  training  it  gives.  For  ex- 
ample civil  engineering,  surveying,  economic 
botany  and  stock  breeding  depend  for  their  value 
on  the  out  door  experience  that  renders  the  hand 
skillful  and  the  eye  unerring.  But  the  ordinary 
manual  operations  in  agriculture  and  mechanics 
are  taught  elsewhere  far  more  widely,  more 
economically  and  even  more  thoroughly  perhaps 
than  in  the  nature  of  the  case  they  possibly  can 
be  under  the  organization  of  a  college.  A  thou- 
sand work-shops  and  a  hundred  thousand  farms 
scattered  all  over  the  land  are  the  actual  and 
the  adequate  schools  from  which  graduate  in 
untold  numbers  the  experts  and  the  artlzaus 
that  the  progress  of  industry  demands.  What 


farmer,  gardener  or  mechanic  would  send  his 
son  to  college  to  learn  the  very  things  which  he 
himself  could  teach  with  far  less  expense  at 
home.  Nearly  all  the  young  men  who  seek  ad- 
mission to  the  Iowa  Agricultural  College  bring 
with  them  a  complete  experience  in  the  ordi- 
nary routine  of  farm  labor.  But  the  vast  inter- 
ests of  agriculture  are  suffering  not  so  much  as 
seems  to  me  from  the  lack  of  skilled  workmen 
as  from  the  lack  of  scientific  knowledge.  Even 
if  they  were,  it  would  be  quite  impossible  for  the 
national  schools  to  supply  the  deficiency.  Its 
province  as  defined  by  law  is  not  to  develop  car- 
penters, masons,  plowmen  and  crop  raisers 
merely,  but  architects,  engineers,  scientific 
breeders,  veterinary  surgeons,  economic  ento- 
mologists and  the  like.  In  maturing  his  noble 
scheme  for  the  industrial  schools,  the  f ramer  of 
the  law  which  declares  that  the  leading  object 
shall  be  to  teach  the  industrial  sciences,  had  a 
clear  and  definite  perception  of  the  real  obsta- 
cles to  the  advancement  of  the  great  industries, 
namely,  a  wide-spread  ignorance  of  the  branches 
of  learning  that  underlie  them.  He  saw  with 
marvelous  clearness  of  vision  that  the  vast 
treasures  now  sleeping  in  and  beneath  the  soil 
demand  for  their  development  the  research,  the 
foresight  and  the  facilities  which  the  industrial 
sciences  can  furnish.  He  saw  that  science  alone 
could  protect  the  great  staple  productions  of  the 
country  from  those  natural  enemies  which  con- 
stantly threaten  and  often  accomplish  their  de- 
struction. He  desired  to  bring  learning  forth 
from  its  venerable  haunts  into  the  open  air  and 
the  broad  sunlight  where  she  may  become  sym- 
pathetic and  helpful  to  the  industries,  where 
she  may  indeed  reveal  the  secrets  of  nature, 
teaching  how  lightning  is  utilized,  how  ores  are 
discovered,  mined  and  reduced,  how  rivers  are 
bridged  and  mountains  tunneled,  how  plants 
grow,  how  marshes  are  drained  and  worn-out 
soils  refertilized,  how  fruits  and  cereals  and  do- 
mestic animals  may  be  improved,  how  every  ar- 
ticle of  food  and  fabric  may  be  produced  with 
the  least  possible  waste  of  muscle  and  material; 
in  short  where  science  may  take  the  laborer  by 
the  hand  and  lift  him  up  with  the  loving  injunc- 
tion "  I  say  unto  thee  arise." 

The  sufferings  and  sacrifices  endured  in  every 
state  from,  a  lack  of  that  learning  that  underlies 
the  industries,  made  the  necessity  for  such 
schools  the  more  apparent.  In  the  very  capitol 
for  instance,  erected  at  the  cost  of  millions, 
where  the  bill  for  founding  them  was  drawn, 
many  valuable  lives  have  been  lost  through  the 
poisonous  atmosphere  of  a  defective  ventilation. 
Millions  on  millions  of  dollars  are  invested  an- 
nually in  dwellings  which  are  wanting  in  both 
convenience  and  beauty  by  reason  of  the  ab- 
sence of  architectural  knowledge.  Uncounted 
sums  go  to  waste  in  the  erection  of  public 
structures  in  which  some  fatal  defect  is  due  to  a 
blundering  builder.  Early  errors  of  construc- 
tion in  the  main  building  of  the  Iowa  Agricult- 


ural College  involved  a  loss  of  at  least  $50,000, 
and  a  defective  heating  apparatus  at  least  $25,- 
000.  Four  years  ago  the  rising  walls  of  a  new 
oapitol,  which  the  state  had  projected,  were  torn 
down  to  the  tune  of  $50,000,  in  order  to  remove 
the  crumbling  stone  which  an  incompetent  ar- 
chitect had  placed  therein.  These  instances  are 
only  an  insignificant  fraction  of  the  winumera- 
ble  legion  of  blunders  which  are  born  of  inca- 
pacity in  every  state.  The  vast  aggregate  of 
treasures  sunk  in  this  way  beyond  hope  of  re- 
covery defies  enumeration.  We  can  only  touch 
a  sample  or  two  and  leave  the  stupendous  whole 
as  beyond  our  grasp.  A  really  competent  archi- 
tect would  have  saved  to  Iowa  in  the  single  in- 
stance referred  to  more  than  a  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  How  much  would  she  save  with  a 
complete  supply  of  scientific  master  workmen 
in  every  line  of  industrial  art. 

But  there  is  even  a  more  urgent  call  for  science 
to  give  effective  help  in  the  various  branches  of 
industrial  art  which  agriculture  embraces.  For 
a  single  example,  all  over  the  land  there  is  a  de- 
plorable ignorance  of  the  breeding  and  habits  of 
the  commonest  pests  that  infest  the  farm  and 
consume  its  products.  It  is  high  time  that 
science  should  seek  every  where  to  compass  the 
destruction  of  these  noxious  feeders.  There  is 
urgent  need  for  a  general  onslaught  to  be  made 
on  the  clouds  of  insects  that  season  after  season 
make  such  alarming  havoc  with  our  crops  of 
fruit  and  grain.  There  is  a  need  as  urgent  that 
all  quadrupeds  and  birds  which  are  naturally  de- 
structive to  these  should  be  carefully  multiplied. 
With  every  returning  summer  comes  the  resur- 
rection of  the  swarms  of  borers,  curculios, 
weevils,  worms,  grasshoppers  and  the  like.which 
combine  in  countless  hosts  to  rob  the  farmer  of 
the  products  of  his  labor.  Particular  families  of 
these  have  generated  with  such  alarming  rapid- 
ity as  to  beget  a  well  grounded  fear  that  their 
numbers  will  result  in  the  utter  annihilation  of 
the  crops  on  which  they  feed.  In  some  quarters 
this  fear  has  long  since  been  realized.  The  lo- 
cust, once  valued  for  its  enduring  wood  and 
grateful  shade,  has  yielded  to  millions  of  perfo- 
rations which  have  reduced  its  limbs  and  trunk 
to  dust.  The  plum  tree,  which  once  offered  its 
sure  fruits,  round,  ripe  and  melting,  now,  in 
many  a  section,  casts  them  annually  to  the 
ground,  blighted  and  worthless.  In  'all  manner 
of  vegetable  delicacies  the  worm  is  demanding 
to  be  served  first.  The  time  may  come  when  no 
man  can  taste  an  apple  whose  skin  unflecked 
and  unstung  shall  forbid  the  apprehension  that 
the  first  incision  of  the  teeth  shall  reveal  a  slimy 
occupant.  But  most  terrible  of  all  and  without 
remedy  as  yet  from  science  and  skill  is  the 
scourge  that  hides  the  sun  and  blackens  the  sky 
and  wherever  it  alights  turns  the  beauty  and 
the  bloom  of  the  fields  into  the  barrenness  of 
the  desert. 

These  various  destroyers,  threatening  such 
wide-spread  evils,  demand  the  wisest  and  moat 


40 


vigorous  measures  for  their  extermination. 
Such  measures  can  be  founded  only  on  an  accu- 
rate knowledge  of  their  form,  habits,  metamor- 
phoses and  modes  of  propagation.  The  science 
of  entomology  reveals  all  the  forms  and  phases 
and  wonders  of  insect  life.  It  shows  all  the 
mysteries  of  reproduction,  at  what  season  and 
where  the  egg  is  deposited,  how  long  it  remains 
an  egg,  when  the  grub  comes  forth,  its  struct- 
ure, food,  habits,  whereabouts,  duration;  how 
with  millions  of  fellow  grubs  it  works  its  mis- 
chief to  the  crops,  then  coils  itself  up  and  lays 
itself  away  to  rest  awhile  in  the  chrysalis  state, 
from  which,  after  all  these  vicissitudes  it  emer- 
ges at  last  a  perfect  insect,  lives  its  brief  period, 
lays  innumerable  eggs,  and  is  gathered  to  its 
fathers.  Having  such  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  times,  seasons,  changes,  and  modes  of 
growth  of  insects  that  are  harmful  to  vegeta- 
tion, a  man  may  go  about  their  extermination 
intelligently,  but  without  it  he  qan  only  make, 
in  some  instances  at  least,  such  blind  endeavors 
as  will  lead  to  blundering  failure.  The  workers 
in  this  field  are  far  too  few.  Clouds  of  locusts 
are  annually  devastating  vast  areas  within  its 
limits  and  yet  there  are  not  half  a  dozen  well- 
known  entomologists  in  the  entire  Northwest. 
Nor  does  the  demand  for  scientific  helpers  in  ag- 
riculture stop  here.  We  want  scientists  who 
shall  elucidate  with  precision  every  process  by 
which  the  lifeless  mold  shall  be  changed  into 
the  marketable  product  with  the  least  invest- 
ment of  muscle  and  money.  Scientists  who  shall 
teach  how  to  preserve  our  forests  and  to  extend 
their  areas  by  judicious  planting  until,  as  the 
generations  pass,  the  supply  of  timber  shall 
equal  the  consumption.  Scientists  who  shall  re- 
veal the  mysteries  of  economic  feeding  so  that 
our  vast  crops  may  produce  the  largest  attain- 
able amount  and  the  finest  quality  of  butter, 
pork  and  beef.  Scientists  who  can  find  beyond 
cavil  the  cause  and  cure  of  the  strange  maladies 
that  at  times  sweep  off  our  cattle  and  swine  by 
the  thousand.  Scientists  who  shall  expound 
those  laws  of  breeding  and  treatment,  under 
which  the  lank  scrub  takes  on  at  last  the  caliber 
and  contour  of  the  symmetrical  Short-horn,  and 
so  save  us  finally  from  the  anomaly  of  raising 
and  feeding  the  finest  crops  and  masticating  the 
poorest  beef  in  the  world. 

Such  is  the  condition  of  the  industries,  especi- 
ally that  of  agriculture,  such  are  their  needs, 
and  such  the  training  of  the  men  required  to 
meet  these  needs.  Are  the  national  colleges  pro- 
ducing such  men?  The  answer,  though  an  af- 
firmative one,  cannot  be  given  in  a  single  sen- 
tence. Nearly  all  of  them  have  organized 
with  the  simple  purpose  of  pursuing  the  lead- 
ing object  set  forth  in  the  congressional  grant. 
Tney  have  gathered  their  faculties  and  equip- 
ments and  arranged  their  courses  of  study  in 
special  reference  to  this  leading  object,  and 
entered  honestly  and  earnestly  on  the  line  of 


effort  assigned  by  law.  Not  two  years  since  a 
committee  of  congress,  after  an  investigation 
lasting  nearly  a  year  declared  that "  It  is  due  to 
the  whole  class  of  these  institutions  to  say,  that 
there  is  nothing  in  the  results  thus  far  attained, 
that  can  be  called  discouraging.  A  considera- 
ble number  of  the  colleges  have  done  work 
which  requires  no  apology,  and  a  few  of  those 
earliest  organized,  have  already  found  time  to 
take  high  rank  among  the  institutions  of  the 
land.  The  number  of  students  in  attendance 
upon  these  schools,  is  already  between  three 
and  four  thousand,  and  they  have  furnished 
more  than  1,600  graduates  to  the  active  occu- 
pations of  life.  They  are  generally  gathering 
about  themselves  material  appliances  in  the 
form  of  farms,  stock,  work-shops,  machinery, 
books,  and  apparatus.  More  than  two  hundred 
teachers  are  engaged  in  the  work  of  instruc- 
tion. There  is  evidence  of  an  honest  purpose  to 
make  the  studies  pursued,  such  in  variety,  in 
extent  and  in  value  as  shall  meet  the  require- 
ments of  the  law  to  which  they  are  indebted  for 
their  endowment.  Studies  connected  with  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts,  are  made  promi- 
nent, if  not  par-amount,  and  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that,  by  these  means,  the  taste  for 
these  branches  of  knowledge  has  been  consider- 
ably increased  in  the  whole  community." 

Now  take  notice  that  the  report  from  which  I 
have  quoted  a  single  extract  was  written  by  a 
committee  appointed  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
finding  whether  these  colleges  were  drifting 
away  from  the  spirit  of  the  law  which  gave 
them  life;  that  the  scrutiny  made  into  their 
condition  was  protracted  and  thorough  to  the 
last  degree.  Nevertheless  it  is  clear  beyond 
question  that  the  industrial  colleges  have  not, 
as  yet,  supplied  to  any  degree  of  fulness  the 
scientific  workers  which  the  progress  of  agri- 
culture and  the  other  great  industries  require. 
It  would  be  indeed  unreasonable  to  expect  so 
large  a  result  at  so  early  a  period.  These  in- 
stitutions are  in  their  infancy  and  the  most  se- 
rious obstacle  they  are  compelled  to  encounter, 
is  the  insane  demand  by  the  multitude  for  im- 
mediate fruits.  Institutions  of  learning  may 
be  early  in  their  blossoming,  but  they  are  late 
in  fruiting.  It  were  idle  folly  to  attempt  to 
settle  at  present  the  value  of  the  industrial 
schools  by  an  inventory  of  the  distinguished 
men  who  hold  their  diplomas.  Little  can  be 
learned  as  yet  by  the  inspection  of  actual  sam- 
ples. A  public  project  organized  for  the  im- 
provement, of  things  may  reach  early  results, 
but  a  great  public  project  organized  for  the 
moulding  of  men  can  find  its  ripened  fruits 
only  in  the  distant  future.  Man-making  is  slow 
business.  Have  patience !  Scarcely  can  a 
graduate  attain  to  such  influence  as  to  show  to 
the  public  the  value  of  his  training  until  he 
has  passed  the  middle  age.  The  final  worth  of 
the  industrial  learning  gained  at  the  national 


41 


schools  will  appear  in  its  fullness  only  after  the 
present  conductors  shall  have  gone  to  their 
rest.  Still  even  now  the  proofs  are  multiply- 
ing that  these  schools  are  earnestly  engaged  in 
this  vitally  important  line  of  instruction  and 
training,  and  the  early  results  are  beginning  to 
appear.  Many  of  their  graduates  are  already 
giving  us  the  votaries  of  industrial  science  the 
promise  of  future  distinction.  For  example, 
Michigan  Agricultural  College,  which  is  not  yet 
twenty  years  old  has  prepared  and  furnished  for 
its  own  faculty  a  professor  of  entomology,  and 
a  superintendent  of  its  own  gardens.  It  has 
supplied  for  Cornell  University  a  professo 
of  botany,  for  Kansas  Agricultural  College  a 
professor  of  agricultural  chemistry,  and  a  pro- 
fessor of  agriculture,  for  the  university  of 
Wisconsin  a  professor  of  agricultural  chemis- 
try, for  Harvard  University  an  assistant  in  cryp- 
togamic  botany,  and  for  the  Iowa  Agricultural 
College  a  professor  of  economic  botany. 

Iowa  Agricultural  College,  opened  less  than 
eight  years  ago,  already  numbers  among  its  80 
graduates  half  a  dozen  professors,  who  give 
instruction  in  such  subjects  as  physics,  economic 
botany,  and  chemistry,  practical  agriculture, 
stock  breeding,  veterinary  science  and  practice. 
It  has  sent  out  also  several  enthusiastic  young 
naturalists,  who  though  the  ink  of  their  di- 
plomas is  scarce  yet  dry,  are  already  doing  ex- 
cellent service  for  the  state.  One  of  them  col- 
lected the  Iowa  soils,  and  another  the  plants  of 
Iowa,  making  a  complete  classification  and  ar- 
rangement of  these  for  the  Centennial  Expo- 
sition. I  do  not  mention  the  many  from  these 
institutions  who  are  fine  stock  breeders,  fruit 
raisers,  or  engaged  in  the  larger  operations  of 
agriculture,  nor  do  I  note  the  hundreds  of  un- 
der-graduates  who  go  back  annually  to  the 
farm,  adding  to  labor  new  ability  and  diligence 
and  who,  scattered  among  the  distant  districts, 
drop  out  of  the  public  eye  and  are  taken  little 
account  of.  These  twe  schools,  the  one  of  the 
older,  and  the  other  of  the  younger  class,  stand 
probably  on  a  level  in  results  with  the  national 
schools  of  the  other  states,  and  these  few  first 
fruits,  I  have  ventured  to  mention,  are  only  an 
earnest  of  the  full  ripened  harvest  which  time 
will  duly  bring.  The  scheme  devised  and  car- 
ried through  congress  by  Justin  Morrill,  was  a 
grand  one,  but  its  realization  shall  run  and  be 
glorified  by  the  granduer  of  its  success. 

It  remains  to  glance  at  the  courses  of  study 
in  the  national  college  composed  of  the 
branches  related  to  agriculture,  which  if  adopt- 
ed and  wisely  carried  out,  will  most  nearly  ful- 
fill the  conditions  of  the  congressional  grant. 
And  first  it  seems  to  me  that  there  ought,  in 
this  important  department,  to  be  two  curricula 
-*one  of  which,  consisting  of  all  the  sciences 
related  to  agriculture,  arranged  with  reference 
to  the  comparative  value  of  each,  should  pre- 
pare the  student  for  a  large  success  in  the  most 
skillful  and  economical  management  of  the 


farm;  in  short  make  the  scientific  and  practical 
farmer.  The  other  should  be  made  up  of  spec- 
ial courses,  composed  of  single  branches,  with 
their  adjuncts  arranged  for  the  purpose  of  meet- 
ing the  wants  of  those  students,  who  design  to 
pursue  and  practice  through  life  some  special 
branch  of  learning  related  to  agriculture. 
Each  of  these  sub-courses,  conducted  by  a  com- 
petent professor,  with  sufficient  assistance,  and 
furnished  with  abundant  illustration  would 
finally  supply  the  urgent  necessity  for  such 
workers  in  scientific  agriculture,  as  the  econom- 
ic botanist,  the  entomologist,  the  producer  of 
new  varieties  of  grain  or  fruits,  the  veterinary 
surgeon,  the  farm  architect  and  engineer,  the 
scientific  breeder,  and  the  agricultural  writer. 

And  I  here  record  my  belief  that  this 
second  course,  composed  of  special  courses  for 
the  specialist  in  science,  will  be  far  more  bene- 
ficial to  agriculture  than  the  first.  For  the 
graduates  in  the  general  agricultural  sciences, 
with  some  exceptions,  expend  their  entire 
means  in  getting  through  college,  have  nothing 
left  with  which  to  buy  farms,  and  have  invested 
too  much  in  their  educatien  to  engage  as  farm 
laborers.  Even  if  they  did,  it  would  scarcely 
answer  the  design  of  the  national  college.  I 
have  moreover,  serious  doubts  whether  these 
graduates  could  quicken  the  progress  of  agri- 
culture, by  giving  themselves  up  wholly  to  the 
raising  of  crops.  The  farmers  of  the  country 
cannot  be  helped  by  adding  to  the  mere  bulk  of 
farm  products ;  which  are  already  so  great  as  to 
cause  frequently  a  glut  in  the  market.  It  is  not 
an  increased  competition  already  too  great, 
that  the  farm  needs,  but  such  an  advance 
rather  in  the  skill  and  economy  of  improved 
processes,  that  a  wider  margin  may  be  left  be- 
tween the  cost  of  production  and  the  market 
price ;  and  the  men  who  are  helping  most  in 
this  direction,  are  not  generally  employed  in  the 
raising  of  crops.  They  fill  the  editorial  chairs, 
they  are  in  the  students  office,  in  the  laboratory 
or  the  workshops,  or  engaged  wholly  in  observa- 
tion and  experiment  or  invention.  If  there  be 
any  doubt  of  the  fact,  I  could  give,  at  the  pres- 
ent moment,  such  a  list  as  would  set  all  ques- 
tions at  rest. 

When  therefore  the  students  of  our  agricult- 
tural  colleges  continue,  after  graduation,  as 
some  do,  the  study  of  economic  botany,  entom- 
ology or  agricultural  chemistry,  or  become  the 
teachers  of  agricultural  science  in  any  of  its 
numerous  branches,  it  seems  to  me  they  are 
taking  the  surest  course  to  realize  the  purpose 
of  the  congressional  grant,  i  do  not,  however, 
underrate  the  value  to  the  student  of  manual 
skill,  and  many  colleges  give  abundant  opportu- 
nity for  its  attainment. 

The  question  then  so  often  asked,  "Do  the 
graduates  of  the  agricultural  colleges  go  on  to 
the  farm"  will  not  determine  the  \alue  of  ag- 
ricultural education.  As  we  have  seen,  it  is  not 
the  general  farmer,  who  in  a  manner  lives  and 
labors  unto  himself  alone,  but  the  specialist  in 
science  by  whose  help  the  enemies  of  the  farm 
shall  perish,  the  noxious  plants  be  subjugated, 
the  noxious  insects  destroyed  or  rendered  harm- 
less, the  domestic  animals  reach  such  perfec- 
tion of  form,  as  to  answer  their  precise  pur- 
pose, the  fruits  and  grains  yield  their  sure  re- 
firnsa  hundred  fold,  the  farm  dwelling  be 
changed  to  a  model  of  convenience  and  beauty, 
the  farm  itself  reach  the  topmost  limit  of  its 
producing  capacity,  and  the  farmer's  life  be- 
come the  truest  life  that  man  can  live. 

When  all  this  shall  be  done  and  well  done, 
then  will  a  prominent  purpose  of  the  industrial 
colleges  have  been  accomplished. 

Read  also  before  a  convention  of  the  Presidents  of 
State  Universities  and  Agn'-ultu-al  Colleges  in  the 
West,  h^ld  in  Chicago,  Nov.  23d,  at  which  tne  views  it 
advocates  were  ap  roved  by  resolution  unanimously 

p. 88   d. 


THE    PROSPECTS  OF    AMERICAN 
AGRICULTURE^ 

By  JOSEPH  HARRIS. 


I  have  be«n  asked  to  write  a  short  paper  on 
the  prospects  of  American  Agriculture.  I  did 
not  select  the  subject  myself.  I  am  not  a 
prophet  or  the  son  of  a  prophet,  and  can  only 
judge  of  the  future  from  the  past  and  the  ten- 
dencies of  the  present. 

To  me  the  signs  of  the  times  are  favorable  and 
the  prospects  bright.  Given  a  soil  in  the  same 
condition  aad  with  a  similar  season,  no  one,  I 
think,  will  dispute  the  assertion  that  a  given 
amount  of  time  and  labor  will  produce  more 
•wheat,  barley,  oats,  corn,  hay,  roots,  clover  and 
grass  seed;  more  cotton,  rice,  hemp,  flax  and 
tobacco:  and  more  beef,  mutton,  wool,  pork, 
milk,  butter  and  cheese  to-day  than  it  would, 
25,  60,  or  100  years  ago. 

And  the  same  is  true,  as  a  rule,  of  the  articles 
for  which  a  farmer  wishes  to  exchange  his  sur- 
plus products.  A  given  amount  of  time  and 
labor  will  produce  more  and  better  implements 
and  machines ;  more  woolen,  linen  and  cotton 
cloth  ;  more  boots,  shoes,  stockings  and  gloves : 
more  pins,  needles,  buttons  and  thread. 

The  same  amount  of  labor  will  dig  more  coal, 
iron  and  silver,  and  will  saw  and  plane  more 
boards,  and  give  us  more  nails,  hammers,  glass, 
putty  and  paint ;  will  give  us  more  furniture 
for  our  houses,  and  more  and  better  light,  and 
more,  if  n  >t  better,  books,  papers  and  pictures. 
In  short,  owing  to  the  discoveries  of  science,  to 
increased  skill,  and  to  mechanical  and  chemi- 
cal inventions,  a  given  amount  of  labor  will  pro- 
duce more  of  the  necessaries  and  luxuries  of 
Mfe  which  a  farmer  needs  to  procure  in  ex- 
change tor  his  farm  products  than  it  would  25, 
50  or  100  years  ago. 

So  far  as  material  prosperity  is  concerned, 
therefore,  we  are,  as  a  naiion,  or  a  community 
of  nations,  better  off  than  we  were  25, 50,  or  100 
years  ago.  We  need  not  work  so  hard,  or,  if  we 
•work  as  hard,  we  can  have  more  of  the  neces- 
saries and  luxuries  of  life.  I  am  speaking  now 
of  all  classes. 

But,  of  course,  it  does  not  nece  sarily  follow 
that  one  class  in  exchanging  its  products  for  the 
products  of  another  class  gets,  at  all  times,  a 
fair  and  just  equivalent.  And  no  acts  ot  legis- 
lation will  make  a  man  just  and  liberal.  It  a 
barber  in  Kansas  refuses  to  shave  a  farmer  for 
less  than  two  bushels  of  corn,  the  farmer  can 
let  his  beard  grow.  And  if  a  shoemaker  wants 
60  bushels  of  potatoes  for  a  pair  of  boots  the 
farmer  may  have  to  submit  to  the  exchange. 
But  such  a  state  of  things  in  a  free  and  intelli- 
gent community  will  not  last  long.  The  farm- 
er or  his  son,  will  turn  shoemaker,  and  by  and 
by  the  shoemaker  will  want  to  turn  farmer. 
This  matter  of  the  exchange  of  labor  or  its 
products  must  be  left  to  regulate  itself.  Mo- 
nopoly, extortion,  and  all  forms  of  injustice 
seldom  prosper  iu  the  end. 

To  me,  the  prospects  of  American  agriculture 
never  were  so  bright  as  at  the  present  time. 
There  is  plenty  of  work  to  be  done.  The  great- 
€8t  curse  that  can  befall  a  man  or  nation  is  vol- 


untary or  involuntary  idleness.  "  Nothing  t» 
do"  means  poverty  and  misery.  The  less  a  man 
does  the  less  he  is  inclined  to  do.  The  more  he 
does  the  more  he  can  do.  Idleness  leads  to 
weakness  and  inability.  Work  gives  strength 
and  skill,  it  banishes  despondency  and  brings  in 
hope,  and  hope  leads  to  continued  effort.  If  we 
fa>l  one  year  we  try  again.  We  get  to  have 
faith  in  the  soil  and  in  ourselves.  We  have  to 
compete  with  our  brother  farmers  and  with  the 
farmers  of  the  world.  We  feel  that  farming  is 
no  child's  play  and  we  must  try  to  acquit  our- 
selves like  men  and  be  strong. 

Of  our  many  blessings,  therefore,  not  the 
least  is  the  fact  that  we  have  now,  and  shall 
have  for  years  to  come,  plenty  of  work  to  do  on 
our  farms. 

There  are  farmers  w^ho  thought  that  when 
their  farms  were  cleared  of  the  forest,  and 
when  the  barns  and  fences  were  built  and 
roads  made,  there  would  be  little  to  do.  Phil- 
osophers also  told  us,  and  truly,  that  trees  ab- 
sorbed carbonic  acid  from  the  atmosphere,  and 
that  when  we  cleared  up  a  district  we  not  only 
removed  these  natural  purifiers  of  the  atmos- 
phere, but  when  the  trees  were  burnt  or  de- 
cayed large  quantities  of  carbonic  acid  were 
thrown  off,  and  al-o  that  man  and  beast  were 
daily  and  hourly  polluting  the  atmosphere  in  the 
sam^  way.  All  the  processes  and  operations  of 
civilized  life  produced  enormous  quantities  of 
carbonic  acid,  and  we  at  the  same  time  were  re- 
moving the  trees  which  nature  had  provided  to 
purity  the  atmosphere.  Now  all  this  was  true 
enough,  but  the  great  fact  was  not  then  known, 
that  an  acre  of  corn  would  take  up  probably 
five  times  as  much  carbonic  acid  as  an  acre  of 
forest  trees,  and  that  wheat,  barley,  oats,  grass 
and  clover,  and  all  our  cultivated  plants  were 
much  more  efficient  purifiers  of  the  atmosphere 
than  the  native  forests.  The  fear  that  this  con- 
tinent would  become  a  black  hole  of  Calcutta 
has  proved  groundless ;  and  so  the  idea,  that 
when  we  have  done  the  pioneer  work  of  agri- 
culture there  will  be  little  to  do;  is  equally 
erroneus.  The  better  we  farm,  the  farther  we 
advance  ;  the  more  improvements  we  make,  the 
more  work  will  there  be  to  do.  Let  us  be  thank- 
lul.  On  my  own  farm  I  have  little  or  no  wood 
to  chop  in  winter,  and  yet  I  find  no  difficulty  in 
keeping  nearly  as  many  men  at  work  in  the 
winter  and  spring  months  as  during  the  month 
of  harvest.  In  fact,  wages  being  much  less,  I 
employ  more  men  in  the  spring  than  during  the 
summer. 

Few  farmers,  25  or  50  years  ago,  could  have 
anticipated  such  a  result.  The  truth  is  there  is 
scarcely  any  limit  to  the  amount  of  work  to  be 
done  on  the  farm.  The  more  we  do  the  more 
there  is  to  be  done.  Work  makes  work.  And 
as  a  rule  our  profits  come  not  from  land  but 
from  labor. 

When  the  duties  were  taken  off  foreign  grain 
the  English  farmers  thought  their  occupation 
was  gone.  They  thought  it  was  impossible  for 
them  to  compete  with  the  owners  ef  cheap  land. 
They  really  believed  that  there  was,  land  so 
rich  that  in  the  language  of  Douglas  Jerroldit 
"  needed  only  to  be  tickled  with  a  hoe  to  make 
it  Jaugh  with  a  harvest."  Experience  has  prov- 
ed their  fears  groundless.  It  will  be  so  in  this 
country.  Many  of  us  who  reside  in  the  older 
settled  states,  think  we  cannot  compete  with 
the  cheap  rich  lauds  of  the  West.  And  no  doubt 
this  competition  demands  our  best  thoughts, 
and  will  tax  our  skill  and  energy.  We  may  have 
to  make  many  and  frequent  changes  in  our 
rotations  and  general  management.  But  we 
need  not  despair.  We  shall  be  able  to  make  a 
livinsf .  There  is  no  paradise  on  earth.  "By  the 
sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread."  There 
will  be  found  advantages  and  disadvantages  in 
all  sections.  More  depends  on  the  man  than  on 
the  situation. 
I  read  a  remark  a  few  weeks  ago  in  one  o< 


our  leading  papers  that,  owing  to  the  enormous  | 
amount  of  land  io  this  country,  it  would  be  250 
years  before  there  was  any  real  necessity  for 
scientific  agriculture.  The  writer  evidently  at- 
tached some  technical  and  definite  meaning  to 
the  phrase  "scientific  agriculture."  The  truth 
is,  however,  that  what  would  be  scientific  farm- 
ing  in  England,  might  not  be  scientific  farming 
in  America;  what  would  be  scientific  farming 
in  New  England  or  New  York  might  not  be  sci- 
entific farming  in  Kansas  or  California.  He  is 
the  scientific  farmer  who  makes  the  most  of 
his  labor  and  capital.  And  there'is  just  as  much 
necessity  for  scientific  farming  to-day  as  there 
will  be  250  years  hence.  And  true  scientific 
farming  will  be  just  as  profitable  at  the  present 
time  as  it  ever  has  been  in  the  past  or  ever  will 
be  in  the  future. 

I  greatly  mistake  the  signs  of  the  times  if,  in 
the  near  future,  we  shall  not  find  as  many,  and 
as  true  scientific  farmers  in  America  as  are  to  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  world. 

Take  up  an  English  agricultural  paper  and,  no 
matter  what  subject  is  under  discussion,  you 
will  not  read  far  before  allusion  will  be  made  to 
the  question  of  "Tenant  Rights."  A  farmer's 
club  cannot  discuss  the  science  and  practice  of 
feeding  stock  without  getting  excited  over  the 
mult-tax.  "If  we  could  feed  malt,"  they  say, 
we  could  then  raise  cheap  beef  and  mutton.  If 
we  could  get  compensation  for  our  unexhausted 
improvements  we  could  employ  our  skill  and 
capital  to  advantage.  We  are  not  without  our 
troubles  here.  We  have  some  burdens  that  are 
bard  to  bear.  But,  at  any  rate,  we  are  our  own 
land  owners.  Any  improvements  we  make  are 
made  on  our  own  land.  Our  land  is  not  entailed. 
We  can  transfer  it  as  easily  as  any  other  proper- 
ty. 

We  sometimes  grumble  because  our  best 
farm  laborers  so  soon  leave  us.  They  want 
farms  of  their  own.  I  have  a  man  who  has 
wor ned  for  me  12  years,  and  who  has  now,  out  of 
feis  savings,  bought  a  nice  farm  of  his  own.  I 
lose  a  good  man,  but  he  will  work  quite  as  hard 
lor  himself  as  he  did  for  me  and  put  more 
thought,  care  and  skill  into  his  labor.  It  may 
be  a  lp>s  to  me  but  it  is  a  gain  to  the  country. 
He  will  be  able  to  earn  more  money  and  will 
have  more  to  spend. 

American  farmers,  as  a  class,  work  harder 
than  any  other  farmers  in  the  world.  We  oc- 
casionally find  a  drone  in  the  hive,  but  on  the 
whole,  we  are  a  nation  of  workers,  and  it  makes 
a  great  difference  whether  a  man  is  working  for 
himself  or  tor  others.  We  all  know  what  a  dif- 
ference it  makes  in  the  amount  of  work  done 
whether  a  man  is  working  by  the  day  or  by  the 
piece.  Last  autumn  I  had  men  diguring  pota- 
toes by  the  day,  I  paid  them  $1.25  per  day. 
Digging,  picking  up  and  pitting,  cost  me  over  6 
cents  a  bushel.  I  then  told  two  of  the  men  I 
would  give  them  5  cents  a  bushel  to  do  the 
work.  They  took  the  job,  and  these  two  men 
dug  and  pitted  100  bushels  every  day  and  then 
went  home,  they  sometimes  got  through  by  4 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  I  got  the  work  done 
cheaper  and  the  men  earned  double  the  money. 
Now  just  think  what  this  means;  these  men 
were  earning  $1.25  per  day.  If  we  assume  that 
it  cost  them  $1.00  per  day  for  family  expenses, 
they  made  25  cents  a  d  ay.  Now  with  a  little 
more  energy,  care  and  skill  they  earned  $2.50 
per  day  and,  instead  of  making  25  cents  over 
and  above  expenses,  they  made  $1.50  or  six 
times  as  much.  In  other  words,  they  really 
made  as  much  money  in  one  day  as  they  were 
previously  making  in  a  week. 

1  mention  this  merely  to  illustrate  ray  idea  in 
regard  to  the  great  advantage  it  is  to  us  as  a 
nation  to  have  such  a  large  proportion  of  those 
engaged  in  agricultural  pursuits  directly  inter- 
ested in  the  results  of  their  labors.  They  are 
the  owners  and  occupiers  and  workers  of  the 


land.  Self-interest  calls  out  all  their  energy 
and  skill.  They  make  every  stroke  tell.  A  na- 
tion of  such  farmers  ought  to  be  a  rich  nation. 
The  American  agriculture  of  thef  uture  will  not 
be  English  agriculture  or  European  or  Chinese 
agriculture,  it  will  be  American  agriculture.  We 
shall  think  for  ourselves.  One  ot  the  oldest 
and  most  successful  farmers  in  the  state  of 
New  York  is  a  Scotchman.  But  he  does  not  use 
Scotch  plows  or  adopt  the  Scotch  system  of  ro- 
tation. He  uses  his  Scotch  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience. But  his  farming  is  essentially  Ameri- 
can. We  have  many  good  English  farmers 
among  us  but  we  have  no  English  farming. 

We  have  to  think  for  ourselves ;  we  have  to 
study  principles  and  apply  them.  Liebig  has 
more  readers  here  than  in  Germany. 

The  results  of  Dawes  and  Gilbert's  experiments 
at  Rothamstead  are  more  carefuly  studied  in 
this  country  than  in  England.  And  there  is  a 
reason  for  this.  The  English  farmer  can  apply 
Lawe's  superphosphate  to  his  turnip  crop  with- 
out studying  Lawes  and  Gilbert's  account  of 
their  30  years'  experiments.  But  here  if  we 
would  get  any  benefit  from  these  wonderful  in- 
vestigations we  must  study  them  and  master 
the  principles  of  agricultural  science. 

This  we  are  to  some  extent  doing.  The  large 
circulation  of  our  numerous  agricultural  pa- 
pers proves  that  American  farmers  are  great 
readers  as  well  as  great  workers.  They  do  not 
spend  their  evenings  at  the  village  tavern. 
Their  houses  may  be  isolated,  but  they  are  the 
homes  of  much  that  is  noble  and  true.  We 
need  have  no  fears  in  regard  to  the  rising  gene- 
ration of  American  farmers. 

"  But  are  not  your  sons  leaving  the  farm?" 
Certainly,  and  do  not  English  farmers' sons  leave 
the  farm?  The  sons  and  daughters  of  Queen 
Victoria  cannot  all  be  kings  and  queens,  and  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  farmers  cannot,  all  be 
farmers  and  farmer's  wives.  I  do  not  object  to 
young  men  leaving  the  farm  for  the  cities,  nor 
to  successful  business  men  turning  farmers. 
We  need  more  of  the  latter  class  in  the  coun- 
try. 

But  what  of  the  active,  enterprising,  well- 
educated  young  man  who  sticks  to  the  farm  or 
who  adopts  agriculture  as  the  business  of  his 
life  ;  what  are  his  prospects  ?  The  farmer's  son 
who  leaves  the  farm  and  turns  carpenter,  brick- 
layer or  mason  may  become  a  builder  and  con- 
tractor and  the  owner  of  a  dozen  block s  the 
quarterly  rent  from  any  one  of  which  would  buy 
his  father's  or  bis  brother's  farm. 

Another  farmer's  son  turns  blacksmith,  and 
having  learned  to  make  nails  and  horse-shoes  by 
hand  thinks  he  can  make  them  by  machinery, 
and  becomes  a  millionaire.  Another  is  a  shoe- 
maker but  does  not  stick  solely  to  his  last.  He 
becomes,  after  a  few  years,  the  President  of  one 
of  the  largest  boot  &  shoe  manufacturing  com- 
panies in  the  world.  Another  studies  law  and 
becomes  an  O'Connor  or  an  Evarts. 

But  I  need  not  go  through  the  list.  We  all 
know,  and  the  young  men  on  the  farm,  know, 
that  there  are  great  prizes  to  be  won  in  the 
learned  professions  and  in  trade,  commerce  and 
manufactures.  And  they  will  try  for  them  and 
work  for  them,  and  I  do  not  object  to  it.  and  if  I 
did  it  would  make  no  sort  of  difference.  A  busi- 
ness in  which  there  are  no  prizes,  will  have  lib- 
tie  attraction  for  a  young  man  full  of  hope 
and  energy. 

Are  there  any  prizes  to  be  won  in  the  field  of 
agriculture,  and,  if  so,  how  shall  we  go  to  work 
in  order  to  get  them  ? 

Farming  is  said  to  be  a  slow  business,  but 
sure.  The  man  who  cannot  work  and  wait  will 
not  succeed.  But  the  agriculture  of  to-day  or 
of  the  future  is  very  different  from  the  agricul- 
ture of  the  past. 

The  improvement  in  agricultural  implements 
and  machines  is  something  wonderful.  We  can 


44 


hardly  realize  the  advantages  which  the  men  of 
science,  inventors  and  manufacturers,  have  be- 
stowed on  agriculture.  Many  of  the  operations  j 
of  agriculture  are  dependent  on  the  weather.  A 
large  factory  making  shingles  goes  on,  no  matter 
what  the  weather  may  be,  but  a  single  shower 
will  stop  a  whole  field  of  hay  makers. 

Twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago  a  farmer  witt 
a  hundred  acres  of  hay  to  cut  and  a  hundred 
acres  of  grain  had  to  hire  extra  men  for  a  month 
or  six  weeks,  paying  extra  wages  and  convert- 
ing his  home  into  a  large  boarding  house.  And 
he  could  not  cut  all  his  grass  and  gram  just  at 
the  right  time.  But  now  how  is  it? 

We  start  a  couple  of  mowing  machines  in  the 
afternoon ;  ted  the  grass  the  next  morning  : 
rake  it  into  windrows  ;  ted  it  again  once  or  twice, 
if  need  be,  in  the  windrows;  putitinto  good  cocks 
and  it  is  safe.  We  can  draw  it  in  the  next  day, 
or  as  soon  as  we  can  get  at  it.  In  my  own  case 
this  vear  though  the  weather  was  unusually 
catching,  we  were  all  through  haying  and  har- 
vesting by  the  last  week  in  July,  the  gram  all 
thrashed  and  safe  in  the  barn  ready  for  market. 

We  have  a  bad  climate  for  a  poor  farmer  who 
gets  behind-hand  with  his  work.  But  we  have  as 
good  a  climate  as  any  to  be  found  in  the  world 
if  we  know  how  to  take  advantage  of  it. 

I  thrash  my  grain  in  the  field  by  steam.  I  find 
that  we  can  get  in  a  field  of  grain  much  more 
expeditiously  than  if  we  put  it  in  a  stack  or 
barn,  simply  because  the  man  on  the  wagon 
can  throw  the  grain  to  the  machine  easier  than 
he  can  throw  it  up  on  a  stack  or  bay.  And 
when  we  are  through  we  are  through  ;  the  straw 
stack  built,  the  grain  in  the  barn,  and  men  and 
horses  ready  to  fight  the  weeds  during  our  splen- 
did August  and  September  weather,  when  even 
quack  grass  is  not  difficult  to  kill. 

This  i's  what  machinery  has  done  for  us.  And 
it  has  done  much  more  ;  but  it  is  not  necessary 
to  allude  to  it.  Machinery  makes  us  far  less 
dependent  on  the  weather  than  formerly  and 
better  farming  also  helps  us  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. When  I  first  went  to  Rothamstead  Mr. 
Lawes  asked  me  about  my  father's  farm, 
the  character  of  the  soil,  the  rotation  and  yield 
per  acre.  "  It  is  rather  light  land,"  I  said,  "  but 
yields  good  crops,  if  the  season  is  not  too  dry. 

"I  suspect,"  said  Mr.  Lawes,  "that  your  fath- 
er is  not  a  very  good  farmer.  There  is  nothing 
which  a  good  farmer  dreads  so  much  as  a  wet 

This  was  a  new  idea  to  me.  I  have  an  En- 
glish foreman,  and  our  climate  is  a  sore  trouble 
to  him.  From  May  till  November,  he  is  always 
wanting  rain.  "  The  mangles  are  growing  sur- 
prisingly," he  said,  some  weeks  since,  but 
another  shower  of  rain  would  help  them. 

"Perhaps  so,"  I  replied  ;  "but  as  we  cannot  get 
rain  when  we  want  it,  let  us  keep  the  cultiva- 
tors going  and  kill  the  weeds." 

For  my  part,  I  like  our  climate.  But  it 
makes  no  sort  of  difference  whether  we  like  it 
or  not.  We  cannot  change  it.  What  we  need  to  do 
is  to  study  the  climate  and  adapt  our  crops  and 
our  methods  of  cultivation  and  manuring  to  it. 
One  thing  may  be  safely  said,  that  at  least  three- 
fourths  of  our  seasons  are  very  bad  seasons  lor 
bad  farmers,  but  good  seasons  for  good  farmers. 

Take  the  barley  crops  as  an  illustration.  In 
Western  New  York  20  bushels  per  acre,  weigh- 
ing 48  Ibs.  per  bushel,  is  a  good  average.  It 
probably  will  not  average  more  than  this  the 
present  year.  And  yet  we  have  had  rather  an 
unusually  favorable  season  ;  so  favorable  in- 
deed, that  the  maltsters  expect  to  get  barley 
at  a  low  figure,  say  75  cents  per  bushel. 

Now  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that  on  well-drained, 
well-prepared  and  properly  enriched  soil  our 
climate  is  capable  ot  giving  us  an  average  yield 
of  40  bushels  of  barley  per  acre  ;  and  1  thm& 
the  average  price  of  six-rowed  barley  is  fully 
$1  per  bushel. 


I  have  said  that  20  bushels  is  a  fair  average 
crop  ;  and  this  is  taking  good  and  bad  crops  to- 
gether. There  are  many  crops  which  yield  30 
bushels,  and  consequently  there  must  be  many 
that  are  n®t  over  10  bushels.  But  we  will  take 
15  bushels  as  the  average  crop  of  a  rather  indif- 
ferent farmer.  He  sows  two  bushels,  and  will 
be  very  apt  to  leave  two  bushels  on  the  ground 
in  harvesting  the  crop,  and  so,  after  deducting 
seed  and  scatterings  in  harvesting,  he  has  11 
bushels  to  sell,  which,  at  75  cents  is  $8.25  per 
acre. 

The  good  farmer  has  40  bushels.  He  sows  two 
bushels,  and  we  will  reckon  that  he  loses  two 
bushels  of  scatterings,  though  a  good  crop  does 
not  scatter  half  as  much  as  a  poor  crop.  This 
leaves  36  bushels,  which,  at  75c  is  $27  per  acre, 
or  over  three  times  as  much  as  from  the  poor 
crop  ;  and  this,  mark  you,  is  in  a  good  season. 

Now,  how  is  it  in  what  we  call  a  bad  season, 
that  is,  in  a  season  unfavorable  for  the  growth  of 
barley  on  ordinary  land? 

In  such  a  season  we  have  hundreds  ot  farmers 
whose  barley  crops  will  not  be  over  12  bushels 
per  acre.  Deducting,  as  before,  2  bushels  for 
seed  and  two  bushels  for  scatterings,  we  have 
8  brshels  of  merchantable  barley,  of  rather  an 
inferior  quality,  weighing  perhaps,  46  Ibs.  to  the 
bushel. 

Owing  to  the  unfavorable  season,  barley  will 
be  likely  to  bring  $1.50  per  bushel.  The  net  re- 
turns from  such  a  crop,  therefore,  will  be  (8 
bushels  of  46  Ibs.  at  $1.50  per  bushel  of  48  Ibs. 
$11.50)  $11.50. 

The  good  farmer,  on  well-drained,  well-pre- 
pared and  properly  enriched  land,  will  have,  say 
36  bushels  per  acre  of  48  Ibs.  per  bushel.  De- 
ducting 2  bushels  for  seed  and  2  bushels  for 
scatterings  we  have  for  sale  32  bushels  at  $1.50 
per  bushel,  or  $48  per  acre. 

In  the  case  of  potatoes  the  advantage  of  rais- 
ing a  good  crop  in  an  unfavorable  season  is  even 
still  more  striking.  And  since  the  advent  of  the 
Colorado  beetle,  rich  land  and  better  cultiva- 
tion are  absolutely  essential,  for  the  reason  that 
it  costs  no  more  to  kill  the  "  bugs "  on  a  crop 
that  will  yield  250  bushels  per  acre  than  on  a 
crop  that  will  yield  only  100. 

1  live  in  a  great  potato-growing  section.  One 
hundred  bushels  per  acre  is  a  fair  average  crop. 
Last  year  (1875)  the  season  was  remarkably  fa- 
vorable for  the  growth  of  potatoes  in  nearly  all 
sections  of  the  country,  and  millions  of  bushels 
were  sold  for  less  than  it  had  cost  to  dig  and 
market  them.  In  my  neighborhood,  I  have  seen 
many  pits  of  potatoes  that  were  left  in  the  field 
to  rot.  The  year  before  we  got  $1.00  per  bushel 
for  potatoes,  and  it  need  not  surprise  any  one  if 
they  are  $1.00  per  bushel  again  before  next 
spring.  Such  a  season  as  this  is  the  good  potato 
grower's  opportunity.  With  potatoes  at  $1.00 
a  bushel,  a  good  farmer  can  make  money,  and 
make  enough  to  more  than  compensate  for  the 
loss  he  suffers  from  low  prices  in  seasons  when 
the  average  farmer  has  a  fair  crop.  But  I  must 
not  dwell  on  this  point.  The  truth  of  the  matter 
is  this.  With  our  large  area,  a  fair  average  crop, 
such  as  we  have  in  a  highly  favorable  season, 
means  low  prices  and  small  profits.  A  poor, 
general  crop  means  high  prices  for  everything 
we  consume  at  home,  such  as  beans,  potatoes, 
barley,  oats,  buckwheat.  &c.  A  poor  crop  of 
wheat  and  corn  does  not  always  result  in  high 
prices,  for  the  reason  that  we  export  largely, 
and  the  price  is  dependent  on  the  price  in  Eng- 
land and  on  the  cost  of  transportation.  As  a 
rule,  we  should  aim  to  produce  those  articles 
which  we  import,  rather  than  those  which  we 
export.  A  short  crop  of  barley,  beans  or  pota- 
toes always  gives  us  good  prices.  But  such  is 
not  the  case,  with  wheat  and  corn  unless  the 
failure  is  so  general  and  so  severe  as  to  entirely 
stop  exportation.  When  the  price  of  these  arti- 


45 


cles  is  determined  by  the  price  at  which  it  can 
be  delivered  in  our  markets  from  foreign  coun- 
tries, rather  than  by  what  it  is  worth  to  export 
to  foreign  markets,  the  American  farmer  is  sure 
of  getting  full  compensation  for  his  labor.  And 
in  this  connection  let  me  say  that  it  seems  strat  ge 
that  we  have  so  long  let  the  foreign  seed-grow- 
ers s  ipply  us  with  such  a  large  proportion  of  the 
vast  aggregate  amount  of  field,  vegetable  and 
flower  seeds  which  we  annually  use  in  this  coun- 
try. Depend  upon  it,  in  the  near  future  we 
shall  grow  our  own  seeds. 

As  1  have  said  before,  the  agricultural  outlook 
in  America  is  an  inviting  and  prosperous  one. 
There  is  plenty  of  work  to  be  done.  We  own 
our  own  farms.  We  are  surrounded  by  an  active, 
energetic  and  intelligent  business,  commercial, 
and  manufacturing  people.  And  our  own  pros- 
perity will  be  in  proportion  to  the  energy,  skill 
and  intelligence  we  put  into  our  work.  We  shall 
not  confine  ourselves  to  raising  wheat  and  corn, 
pork  and  beef.  Many  will  do  this.  But  others 
will  raise  products  which  require  more  capital 
and  skill,  and  afford  larger  profits. 

Our  first  object  must  be  to  make  our  farms 
cleaner  and  richer.    Draining  when  necessary, 
and    thorough    cultivation,    especially   on   the 
heavier  soils,  are  the  first  steps.    The  real  source 
of  fertilizing  matter  is  the  soil.    Draining  nnd 
cultivation  render  a  portion  of  the  plant-food, 
which  lies  dormant  in  the  soil,  available.    Mr. 
Lawes  has  raised  15  bushels  of  wheat  every  year, 
for  over  thirty  years,  without  manure,  the  grain 
and  straw  being  all  removed.  In  other  words,  on 
his   heavy    lands,    cultivation   renders    enough 
plant-food  available  every  year  for  15  bushels  of 
wheat  and  straw.  This  is  the  normal  yield  of  his 
soil.    On  lighter  and  poorer  soils,  the  normal, 
annual  supply  of  plant-food  would  not  be  so 
much,  and  on  richer  alluvial  soils  it  is  often 
much  greater.    But  whatever  the  exact  amount, 
it  is  evident  that  this  annual  supply  is  the  real 
manurial  income  of  the  farm.    Our  object  must 
be  to  use  this  annual  income  to  the  best  advan- 
tage.   If  we  sell  all  our  crops  we  live  up  to  our 
income,  and  the  larm  gets  no  richer.    And  if  we 
lose  any  by  leaching  or  evaporation  the  soil  be- 
comes to  that  extent  poorer.    If  we  retain  half 
the  crop  at  home  on  the  farm,  and  use  it  judic- 
iously, we  add  so  much  to  our  manurial  capital. 
Many  of  our  farmers  sow  land  to  wheat  and 
seed  it  down  with  clover.  They  then  plow  under 
the  clover  and  saw  wheat  again.    In  this  way 
they  raise  a  crop  of  wheat  every  other  year,  and, 
theoretically,  it  the  normal  yield,  or  the  annual 
supply  of  plant-food,  is  equal  to  15  bushels  of 
wheat  per  acre,  the  yield,  iu  such  a  case,  every 
other  year  should  be  30  bushels  per  acre.    You 
get  no  more  wheat  iu  one  case  than  iu  the  other, 
and  the  only  advantage  is  the  saving  in  seed  and 
in  the  labor  of  preparing  for  and  harvesting  the 
crop.    I  admit  that  these  are  very  great  advan- 
tages.   Summer  fallowing  on  some  soils  would 
have  equal  advantages.    But  I  have  not  time  tc 
dwell  on  this  part  of  the  subject.    I  have  said 
that  theoretically,  if  the  normal  yield  of  a  soil  is 
15  bushels  per  acre,  if  we  plow  under  a  year's 
growth  of  clover  we  ought  to  get  30  bushels,  be- 
cause we  have  two  year's  supply  of  plant-food 
in  the  soil.    There  is  a  principle,  however,  which 
interferes  with  this  result.    The  soil  is  very  con- 
servative.   It  is  not  easy  to  get  out  of  it  all.  we 
put  into  it.    A  dressing  of  farm-yard  manure  or 
a  crop  of  clover  plowed  under,  is  not  by  any 
means  taken  up  by  the  growing  plants  in  a  sin- 
pie  season.    In  heavy  soils,  especially,  decompo 
sition  proceeds  very  slowly,  and  it  may  be  sev 
era!  years  before  all  the  plant-food  supplied  bj 
a  crop  of  clover  is  given  up  to  the  plants.    Stii 
the  laot  remains  tuat  when  we   plow  under  a 
year's  growth  of  clover  we  have  accumulated  in 
the  soil  an  extra  quantity  of  plant-food  equal  ti 
the  annual  supply  rendered  available  by  the 


rocesses  of  agriculture  and  the  decomposing 
nd  disintegrating  action  of  sun  and  air,  heat 
nd  cold.  And  it  i*  this  fact  that  lies  at  the  basis 
f  all  judicious  rotations  of  crops.  I  cannot  but 
eel  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  many  important 
liscoveries  which  will  enable  us  to  add  greatly 

0  the  yield  of  our  crops  and  the  profits  of  our 
arming. 

We  have  learned  how  to  make  a  sheep  produce 

as  much  mutton  from  one  year's  feed,  as  was 

btained  from  three  or  four  year's  feed  less  than 

a  century  ago.    We  shall  learn  how  to  get  out 

f  our  farm-yard  manure  all,  or  nearly  all,  its 

aluable  plant-food  in  a  single  year,  if  we  so 

wish,  and  consequently  be  able  to  raise  a  much 

arger  crop.    We  shall  have  the  matter  more 

under  control. 

We  plow  under  a  crop  of  clover  for  wheat,  and 
n  this  way  get  two  year's  supply  of  plant-food 
for  the  wheat.  We  ought  to  double  our  crop  of 
wheat.  We  ought  to  get  as  much  wheat  from 
the  one  crop  every  other  year  as  from  two  crops 
of  wheat  grown  successively  on  the  same  land. 
The  advantage  of  the  plan,  as  I  have  said,  is  in 
saving  the  seed  for  one  crop  and  the  labor  of 
putting  in  the  crop  and  cutting  it. 

But  I  feel  sure  that  growing  a  crop  and  plow- 
ng  it  under,  merely  to  enrich  another  crop,  ia 
not  always  the  most  economical  plan.  It  is  good 
as  far  as  it  goes.  It  is  far  better  than  growing 
grain  crops  year  after  year  on  the  same  land, 

But  there  is  a  better  way.  There  is  much  nu- 
triment in  the  clover,  and  this  nutriment  can  be 
taken  from  the  clover  and  still  leave  nearly  all 
the  elements  of  plant-food  in  the  excrements  of 
the  animals  that  have  eaten  the  clover.  And 
what  is  true  of  clover  is  true  of  all  other  food. 
Bran  is  sometimes  used  for  manure,  and  so  are 
malt-roots,  and  a  few  years  ago  some  of  the 
Connecticut  tobacco-growers  used  corn  meal  as 
manure.  Now  if  a  sheep  only  takes  out  from  5 
to  10  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  and  a  still  less  pro- 
portion of  phosphoric  acid,  potash  and  other 
valuable  elements  of  manure  from  the  food,  and 
if  these  elements  are  left  in  a  more  available 
condition  in  the  manure  than  in  the  food  itself, 

1  think  we  shall  be  able  to  make  a  profit  in  feed- 
ing the  clover  and  other  food  to  sheep,  rather 
than  to  plow  it  under  merely  for  manure.    I  am 
well  aware  that  when  we  feed  a  ton  of  clover, 
containing  100  Ibs.  of  nitrogen,  to  sheep,  we  do 
not  always  get  back  90  to  95  Ibs.  of  nitrogen  in 
the  manure.    A  careless  farmer  might  lose  halt 
the  value  of  the  manure  by  leaching.    But  there 
is  no  necessity  for  this.    The  elements  are  in  the 
manure  when  it  leaves  the  animal,  and  we  shall 
learn  how  to  preserve  them,  and  I  feel  sure  we 
shall  soon  learn  how  to  make  them  more  imme- 
diately available  to  our  crops.    How  to  get  out 
of  our  soil  more  of  the  large  amount  of  dormant 
elements  of  plant-food  which  it  contains,  and 
then  when  we  have  got  these  elements,  how  best 
to  use  them  and  save  them  should  be  the  great 
aim  of  scientific  and  practical  agriculturists.    I 
know  of  no  better  plan  than  the  one  I  have  sug- 
gested :— 

1st.  Draining  and  thorough  cultivation.  These 
operations,  by  letting  in  the  air  and  sun,  decom- 
pose and  disintegrate  the  organic  and  iuorganio 
elements  of  plant-food. 

2d.  To  grow  such  crops  as  will  take  up  the  lar- 
gest proportion  of  this  plant-food  from  the  soil 
and  subsoil.  Clover,  on  many  soils,  is  one  of  the 
best  plants  for  this  purpose.  Peas  and  beans,  in 
favorable  latitudes,  are  also  good.  Grass  and 
oats  are  less  valuable  for  the  purpose,  but  still 
useful,  and  our  grand,  national  cereal,  Indian 
corn,  can  be  used  with  immense  advantage.  But 
we  have  much  to  learn  in  regard  to  the  peculiar 
requirements  and  uses  of  this  magnificent  crop. 

3d.  After  we  have  taken  up  and  organized  into 
useful,  nutritious  food  the  annual  supply  of 
plant-food  furnished  by  the  soil,  we  have  to 


study  the  best  method  of  extracting:  this  nutri- 
ment and  turning:  it  into  meat,  and  at  the  same 
time  save  the  elements  of  plant-food  in  the  shape 
of  manure  for  future  crops. 

Of  course,  in  a  paper  of  this  kind,  I  cannot  pro 
into  details.  The  crying  necessity  of  the  age  is 
more  and  better  meat.  The  better  our  educa- 
tion, the  more  skillful  and  intelligent  our  popu- 
lation ;  the  harder  we  work  with  our  brains,  the 
more  animal  food  we  seem  to  require.  Improved 
animal",  like  the  Short-horns  for  instance,  re- 
quire richer  food  than  Texan  cattle,  and  bright, 
active,  energetic  men,  as  a  rule,  require,  and 
will  have,  more  nutritious  and  more  easily  di- 
gestible food  than  the  slow,  plodding  farm 
laborer  of  the  past.  Tn  all  civilized  countries  the 
demand  for  animal  food  is  increasing  much  more 
rapidly  than  the  supply.  England  is  searching 
the  world  over  for  meat.  And,  what  is  still  more 
strange,  with  all  our  immense  area  of  cultivated 
land.  New  England.  New  York  and  Pennsylvania 
send  thousands  of  miles  for  beef  cattle.  This  is 
very  well,  but  we  shall  soon  learn  that  we  must 
look  to  improved  agriculture,  rather  than  to 
cheap  land  and  semi-wild  animals,  for  a  steady 
supply  of  good  meat.  The  farmers  of  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Wisconsin  and  Minnesota  need  have  no  fears 
that  Texan  cattle  will  crowd  out  Short-horns 
and  their  grades  from  our  markets.  We  shall 
produce  better  meat  and  we  shall  get  better 

? rices  for  it.  Poor  meat  is  the  di-arest  of  all 
DOd.  Many  of  our  farmers  think  they  cannot 
afford  to  produce  beef  and  mutton.  And  this  is 
probably  true,  unless  they  produce  beef  and 
mutton  of  better  than  average  quality.  There 
is  an  astonishing  amount  of  poor  meat  raised 
and  sold  even  in  the  better  farmed  portions  of 
the  country.  We  must  raise  arood  beef  and  good 
mutton.  To  do  this  with  profit  we  must  furnish 
richer  food  and  this  will  afford  richer  manure. 
And  taking  meat  and  manure  into  account  we 
can  make  a  profit. 

A  few  years  ago  the  wool  from  Leicester,  Cots- 
wold  and  other  long-wooled  English  sheep  sold 
for  from  20  to  30  per  cent,  less  than  Merino  wool. 
Now  all  thisis  changed.  Desirable  combing  wool 
brings  from  20  to  30  per  cent,  more  than  Merino. 
This  is  a  great  change.  Congress  was  at  one 
time  urged  to  take  off  the  duty  on  combine:  wool 
because  it  was  said  the  farmers  of  the  United 
States  could  not  produce  this  kind  of  wool.  It 
could  be  grown  in  Canada,  but  not  here.  On  the 
west  side  of  the  Suspension  Bridge,  over  the 
Niagara  Kiver,  combing  wool  could  be  produced 
of  excellent  quality,  but  not  on  the  east  side. 
And  while  the  Canadian  farmers  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Detroit  river  could  produce  the  best  of 
combing  wool,  the  farmers  of  Michigan  on  the 
west  side  of  the  river  could  not  do  so.  And  a 
member  of  Congress,  a  lawyer  from  the  state  of 
New  York,  and  in  many  respects  a  very  intelli- 
gent and  able  man,  actually  asked  me  in  all  sin- 
cerity and  earnestness  whether  this  was  not 
really  the  fact.  I  need  not  say  that  there  is  not 
a  particle  of  truth  in  the  idea.  We  can  raise  just 
as  good  combing  wool  in  the  United  States  as 
can  be  raised  in  Canada.  And  the  only  reason 
why  Canada  combing  wool  sells  for  from  15  to  20 
per  cent,  higher  than  our  combmg  wool  is  that 
the  Canadian  farmers  understand  the  manage- 
ment of  long-wooled  English  sheep  better  than 
we  do.  They  raise  more  roots  and  feed  better. 
It  is  not  any  difference  in  soil  or  climate.  We  can 
raise  just  as  good  combing  wool  as  can  be  raised 
in  Canada,  and  we  are  learning  how  to  do  it. 

Some  time  since  I  read  an  article  in  the  London 
Agricultural  Gazette  headed  "The  most  profit- 
able flock  in  Essex,  England."  Merino  sheep 
were  imported  into  England  nearly  a  century 
ago  when  fine  wool  commanded  hijrh  prices.  But 
it  was  found  that,  owing  to  the  demand  for 
mutton,  the  coarser-wooled  sheep  were  much 
more  profitable.  Still  the  sheep  were  kept  for 


many  years.  Finally,  however,  the  attempt  to 
raise  fine  wool  was  abandoned,  and  these  Merino 
sheep  were  crossed  with  the  English  mutton 
sheep.  And  it  was  a  flock  of  these  cross-bred 
English  and  Merino  sheep  that  was  pronounced 
the  most  profitable  flock  in  the  County  of  Essex. 
My  own  experience  in  this  country  is  in  the  same 
direction.  By  selecting  a  flock  of  common  Merino 
ewes,  which  averaged  at  full  maturity  80  pounds 
each,  and  which  cost  me  $2.40  per  head,  and  by 
putting  them  to  a  high- bred,  pure  Cots  wold  ram 
I  got  a  lot  of  strong,  healthy  lambs  which,  with 
good  feed,  irrew  rapidly  and  afforded  excellent 
mutton  and  the  wool,  even  the  first  cross,  sold 
for  combing.  A  second  cross,  that  is,  by  takine 
the  ewe  lambs  from  the  first  cross  and  putting 
them,  when  about  18  months  old,  to  a  pure- 
bred Cotswold  ram,  produced  lamhs  which  ap- 
proximated closely  to  the  Cotswold  in  size  and 
in  length  of  wool,  while  the  lambs  are  hardier 
and  stronger,  and  the  wool  finer,  and  the  mut- 
ton of  better  quality  than  the  pure-bred  Cots- 
wolds.  I  killed  one  of  these  %  Cotswolds-Meri- 
no  sheep,  which,  at  15  months  old,  dressed  26 
pounds  per  quarter. 

We  have  millions  of  these  hardy,  common 
Merino  ewes,  which  can  be  bought  at  from  $2  to 
$4  per  head,  and  two  or  three  crosses  of  Cots- 
wold  or  Leicester  blood  will,  with  good  feed, 
give  us  not  "the  most  profitable  flock  in  Essex" 
merely,  but,  in  certain  sections,  the  best  and 
most  profitable  flocks  in  the  world.  The  Cots- 
wolds  and  Leicesters  are  too  fat.  The  Merinos 
are  too  thin.  The  Cotswold  wool  is  too  coarse 
and  unnecessarily  long.  The  Merino  wool  ia 
very  fine  but  too  short.  By  crossing,  we  can 
get  just  the  wool  and  mutton  most  in  demand. 
And  the  sheep  are  admirably  adapted  to  our 
climate.  Of  course  we  must  feed  better  than 
we  are  in  the  habit  of  feeding  common  Merino 
flocks,  but  that  is  precisely  what  the  require- 
ments of  our  agriculture  dema  ids.  We  shall 
feed  higher  and  make  much  richer  manure. 

Good  mutton  in  England  brings  a  higher  price 
than  beef.  We  are  shipping  beef  quarters  to 
England,  we  shall  ship  mutton  carcasses  also 
just  as  soon  as  the  farmers  of  the  United  States 
raise  such  sheep  as  I  have  alluded  to.  Well- 
fatted  mutton  will  keep  longer  and  better  than 
beef,  and  I  should  think  there  would  be  no  dif- 
ficulty in  transporting  it  across  the  Atlantic. 
And  if  I  can  trust  my  own  taste  the  mutton  of 
these  grade  Cotswold-Merino  sheep,  when  well 
fatted,  will  be  found  nearly,  or  quite  equal  to 
South  Down  mutton,  especially  when  kept  till 
nearly  two  years  old.  I  have  just  weighed 
(Aug.  24)  one  of  my  two  year-old  grade  ewes 
that  has  been  running  with  the  rest  of  the  flock, 
but  which  did  not  have  a  lamb  last  spring  and 
is  consequently  almost  fat  enough  to  kill.  She 
has  two  crosses  of  Cotswold  blood  in  her,  she  ia 
perfect  in  shape,  except  that  her  legs  are  a  little 
too  long,  but  she  is  a  remarkably  strong,  vigor- 
ous sheep,  admirably  adapted  to  our  climate 
and  mode  of  farming.  She  weighed  200H  Iba., 
and  would  probably  dress  28  IDS.  to  the  quarter. 
I  do  not  wash  my  own  sheep,  but  I  sold  some 
grade  lambs  to  one  of  my  neighbors  who  washes 
his  sheep.  He  told  me  that  one  of  these  grade 
Cotswold-Merino  lambs  this  spring  sheared  12 
Ibs.  of  washed  wool. 

Now  if  we  can  raise  such  sheep,  and  I  am  sure 
we  can,  and  if  we  can  send  the  surplus  mutton 
to  England  after  we  have  supplied  our  own 
markets,  I  see  no  reason  why  we  cannot  adopt 
a  higher  and  better  system  of  farming— why,  ia 
other  words,  we  cannot  keep  more  stock,  feed 
higher,  and  make  more  and  richer  manure. 

There  are  only  two  points  to  be  observed :  1st. 
We  must  use  pure-bred  long-wooled  rams,  and 
2nd.  We  must  teed  the  ewes  and  lambs  liberally. 
We  have  plenty  of  corn,  and  clover  is  easily 
raised,  and  bran  is  usually  cheap.  I  hope  to 
live  to  see  the  time  when  we  shall  send  less 


corn  and  more  mutton  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
when  we  can  raise  nearly  all  our  own  combing 
wool. 

Hitherto  we  have  raised  few  turnips  or  other 
roots  for  our  sheep.  Much  has  been  written  and 
said  in  their  favor  and  many  farmers  have  tried 
them,  only  to  give  them  up.  The  English  farm- 
ers, to  a  great  extent,  feed  their  turnips  on  the 
land  as  they  grow.  In  our  own  severe  oli  male  we 
have  to  keep  them  in  pits  or  cellars.  We  aret  our 
seed  largely  from  England  and  sow  the  English 
improved  varieties. 

Twenty-nine  years  ago  t  was  walking  with  Mr. 
Lawes  in  a  turnip  field  at  Kothamstead.  We 
came  to  a  part  of  the  field  where,  up  to  a  certain 
row  on  the  right  hand,  the  turnips  were  much 
better  and  larger  than  on  the  left  hand.  "What 
is  the  reason?"  Tasked.  "Has  one  part  of  the 
field  been  dressed  with  superphosphate  or  ma- 
nured more  heavily  than  the  other  part?"  "No, 
both  were  treated  alike,  but  this  fine  crop  is 
'Ikerving's  Improved  Purple-top  Swede,'  while 
the  other  is  a  common  variety  which  has  been 
grown  for  some  years  in  this  neighborhood.  And 
I  wish,"  said  Mr.  Lawes,  ".you  would  take  a  sam- 
ple from  both  and  analyze  them."  I  did  so,  and 
we  found  the  'improvement'  consisted  princi- 
pally of  water.  The  English  seed  growers  have 
for  years  made  great  efforts  to  improve  the  va- 
rieties of  turnips  and  mangels.  They  have  bred 
for  size  and  shape,  and  they  have  attained  won- 
derful success.  But  the  increased  s>ze  is  to  a 
large  extent  merely  an  increase  of  water.  They 
have  got  varieties  so  much  improved  that  they 
can  grow  84  tons  per  acre,  nearly  80  tons  of  whicti 
is  water. 

Now.  in  this  country  we  do  not  wish  to  pull  up, 
top,  draw  home,  pit  and  slice  up  80  tons  of  water 
to  get  4  tons  of  food.  We  can  pump  water  far 
cheaper  with  a  wind  mill.  And  turnips  and 
mangels  will  never  be  generally  grown  in  this 
country  till  we  begin  to  breed  for  quality  rather 
than  tor  size.  When  we  can  get  mangel  wurzel 
that  contains  but  little  more  water  than  fresh 
grass  or  fresh  clover,  we  shall  then  be  able  to 
gather,  store  away,  cut  and  feed  out  the  crop  at 
one-third  the  expense,  and  the  roots  would  keep 
better.  We  should  then  be  able  to  grow  them 
for  winter  and  early  spring  use  as  a  substitute 
for  grass.  But  as  long  as  we  are  cauyrht  by  size 
and  sound :  as  long  as  we  select  varieties  such  as 
'Norbiton  Giant,'  because  it  grows  b'g  and  has  a 
big  name,  we  shall  find  little  profit  in  root  cult- 
ure. I  am  in  great  hopes,  now  that  there  is  a 
prospect  of  having  experimental  stations  us  fast 
as  the  means  and  men  can  be  obtained  to  estab- 
lish them,  that  American  seed  growers  will  breed 
for  quality  rather  than  for  size.  It  is  a  compar- 
atively easy  matter  to  'improve'  a  variety  the 
wrong  way;  it  is  easy  to  take  a  sugar-beet  »nd 
breed  it  back  to  a  mangel  wurzel.  The  reverse 
process  may  not  be  so  easy,  but  it  can  be  done. 
Our  roots  seldom  grow  so  large  or  so  watery  as 
the  same  varieties  do  in  England,  arid  by  grow- 
ing our  own  seed  and  selecting  bilbs  that  will 
give  us  the  largest  yield  of  real  food  per  acre 
with  the  least  water,  we  may  hope  to  make  some 
real  improvement  that  will  far  more  than  pay 
the  cort  of  all  our  experimental  stations  for  the 
next  20  years.  We  shall  then  export  mangel 
wurzel  seed  to  England  and  France  instead  of 
importing  it. 

And  I  hope  and  firmly  believe  that  we  shall  do 
the  same  thing  with  herds  of  sheep  and  swine. 
There  is  a  grand  chance  for  intelligent,  skillful, 
scientific  and  honest  breeders  in  this  country. 
But  we  must  breed  for  real  merit  and  not  for 
show.  Our  experimental  stations  mut-t  test  our 
work  as  we  proceed,  showing  us  the  riirht  dir«  c- 
tion,  and  checking  us  when  we  are  going  wronsr. 

We  have,  for  years,  been  importing  the  best 
cattle  and  sheep  and  best  swine  that  England 
could  produce.  We  have  been  able  to  hold  our 
own  In  the  case  of  pedigreed  cattle.  But  we 


have  not  attained  like  success  in  the  case  of 
English  breeds  of  sheep  and  pigs.  An  English- 
bred  sheep  or  pig  almost  always  makes  a  better 
appearance  in  the  show-yard  than  the  home- 
bred, even  though  descended  directly  from  th» 
very  choicest  imposed  stock.  It  is  worth  our- 
while  to  ask  why  this  is  the  case.  Why  cannot 
we  succeed  as  well  with  English  sheep  as  with 
English  Short-horns  ? 

I  think  we  may  find  an  answer,  at  least,  in 
part,  in  the  fact  that  short-horns  have  a  record- 
ed pedigree,  the  sheep  and  swine  have  not.  The 
Short-horns  are  kept  as  pure  in  England  as  they 
are  here.  We  compete  on  common  ground. 
But  how  is  it  with  sheep  and  swine?  If  I  wish 
to  show  a  sheep  or  pijr  at  the  Centennial  I  am 
required  to  fumish  evidence  that  it  is  "imported 
or  descended  from  imported  animals,  and  that 
the  home-bi  ed  shall  be  of  pure  blood  as  far  back 
as  the  fifth  sreneration." 

No  real  American  breeder  will  object  to  this 
rule.  With  my  own  sheep  and  swine  I  can  com- 
ply with  the  condi  ions,  bur  in  reply  to  a  request 
for  suggestions  I  remarked  'hat  the  same  rule 
ought  to  be  applied  to  English  breeders  and  to 
imported  s'ock  as  to  American  breeders  and 
home-bred  animals  If  not,  why  not  ? 

I  have  got  Cotswold  sheep  imported  from  the 
best  breeders  in  England,  but  I  have  never  yet 
happened  to  see  a  pedigree  of  English  sheep  or 
of  English  pigs  that  was  worth  the  paper  on 
which  it  was  written.  I  do  not  say  that  English 
sheep  and  pigs  are  not  pure,  but  I  do  say  that,, 
as  a  rule,  the  records  do  not  prove  if.  And  I 
think  that  far  greater  latitude  is  allowed  the 
English  breeders  of  sheep  and  swine  t  han  is  al- 
lowed to  American  breeders.  When  we  get  im- 
ported anim-tils  we  put  numbers  in  their  ears  and 
keep  the  stock  pure.  No  reputable  breeder  re- 
sorts to  crosses.  And  we  can  furnish  longer  ped- 
igrees of  Cotswold  sheep.  Essex.  Berkshire  and 
Suffolk  pigs  in  this  country  than  are  usually 
furnished  by  English  breeders. 

I  saw  sometime  since  the  pedigree  of  an  im- 
ported Essex  boar.  The  dam  took  this  and  that 
pi  ize- the  sire  was  never  beaten  at  any  show, 
and  so  of  the  grand  dam,  and  the  grand  sire  waa. 
the  celebrated  boar  something-or-other,  "the- 
progenitor  of  t  he  race." 

Trtlk  of  short  pedigrees!  Why,  it  has  been 
claimed,  and  perhaps  justly,  that  Chester  White 
and  Poland  China  pigs  are  not  established  breeds 
because  ten  or  a  dozen  or  a  score  generation*; 
back  the  pedigree,  if  they  have  any.  runs  back 
into  the  American  woo«ts,  and  yet  here  is  a  pig, 
bought  in  England  at  a  high  prioe.  that  two  or 
three  generations  carries  him  back  to  the  "  pro- 
genitor of  the  race." 

To  the  American  breeder  the  future  looks 
bright.  If  we  keep  our  sheep  and  swine  pure  ; 
if  we  weed  out,  vigorously  :  if  we  keep  a<xjura<e- 
records,  and  bre-.-d  for  definite,  correct  and  use- 
ful objects,  it  will  not  be  many  years  before  we 
shall  not  only  have  a  wreat  demand  from  our 
own  widely-extended  land,  but  from  Europe, 
Asia  and  Au-tralia.  and  that  at  prices  which  will 
liberally  compensate  us  for  all  our  skill,  labor 
and  patient  waiting.  We  shall  not  be  able  to 
make  as  fine  a  display  in  the  show-yard,  but  our 
animals  will  be  far  more  valuable  for  the  pur- 
pose of  improving  common  stoek  than  those 
which  are  more  promiscuously  bred,  and  intell- 
igent farmers  and  breeders  will  not  be  lung  in 
finding  It  out. 

We  all  feel  that  America  is  destined  to  be  the 
greatest  country  in  the  world.  There  is  nothing 
lacking.  We  have  abundance  of  coal  and  iron 
and  wood  and  stone,  and  so  much  silver  that 
our  creditors  are  afraid  we  chall  pay  our  debts, 
wit  h  it.  We  have  railroads  running  in  every  di- 
rection which  must  depend  on  agriculture  lartre- 
ly  for  their  future  dividends.  We  have  a  rapidly 
increasing  population,  with  free  schools  and  the- 
ballot-box  for  all. 


And  the  taste  of  our  people  is  for  other  pur- 
jsuits  rather  than  agriculture.  Those  who  stick 
to  the  farm,  study  the  best  methods  of  cultiva- 
tion and  manuring,  and  aim  to  produce  the  best 
articles  at  the  least  cost  would  seem  to  be  cer- 
tain of  their  reward. 

We  shall  have  periods  of  depression  in  the  fu- 
ture as  in  the  past.  But  as  long-  as  people  need 
food,  the  farmer  is  sure  of  a  market  for  his 
products.  He  is  sure  of  a  fair  compensation  for 
his  labor,  skill  and  intelligence. 

But  this  does  not  satisfy  our  young  farmers. 
They  see  their  brother  and  friends  winning  wealth 
and  distinction  in  other  pursuits,  and  they  ask 
af  there  are  any  prizes  to  be  won  in  agriculture. 

I  believe  there  are  in  farming  as  great  and  as 
many  opportunities  for  "doing  good  and  making 
money"  as  in  any  other  business  of  life.  We 
are  apt  to  think  that  all  the  past  discoveries  and 
inventions  have  been  made.  We  think  that 
Bakewell,  the  Collings,  Ellman,  Jonas  Webb, 
Hammond  and  others  in  the  past  have  so  im- 
proved on  cattle  and  sheep  that  there  is  nothing 
more  for  us  to  do  except  to  retain  and  perpetu- 
ate the  improvement.  There  cannot  be  a  greater 
mistake.  Notwithstanding  all  that  science  and 
art  have  done,  the  production  of  flesh,  meat  and 
fat  is  still  a  very  costly  operation.  To  convert 
the  carbon  of  grass  and  corn  into  the  carbon  of 
fat  and  butter  we  have  at  present  to  submit  to 
a  great  loss-  Even  with  our  best  breeds  of  cat- 
tle and  sheep,  our  most  experienced  feeders 
have  to  submit  to  a  loss  of  at  least  ninety  per 
cent,  of  the  albuminoids  of  the  food.  In  other 
words  if  you  feed  a  steer  or  a  sheep  a  quantity 
of  grass  and  grain  containing  100  pounds  of  nitro- 
gen, you  rarely  get  in  the  growth  of  the  animal 
consuming  the  food  an  amount  of  flesh,  skin, 
hair  and  wool  containing  10  Ibs.  of  nitrogen. 
The  other  90  bis.  are  to  a  large  extent  used  to 
"run  the  machine."  Is  there  no  chance  for 
improvement  here  ?  We  have  the  experience  of 
the  past  and  the  science  of  the  future  to  aid  us. 
We  have  not  to  grope  our  way  in  the  dark  as 
Bakewell  did.  We  know  what  we  want  and  in 
what  direction  to  look  for  it.  Depend  upon  it, 
we  shall  yet  have  breeds  of  cattle,  sheep,  swine 
and  poultry  far  superior  as  meat,  milk  and  wool 
producers  to  anything  the  world  has  yet  seen. 
There  are  great  opportunities  for  the  young 
farmer  of  the  present  and  the  future.  We  have 
in  this  country  seen  a  single  cow  sell  at  public 
auction  for  over  $40,000 ;  and  I  suppose  it  is  a 
fact  that  the  late  Mr.  Hammond  refused  $30,000 
for  one  of  his  rams.  In  one  of  the  northern 
counties  of  New  York,  where  the  thermometer 
goes  down  40  degrees  below  zero,  an  American 
breeder  had  a  choice  herd  of  Short-horn  cattle. 
An  English  breeder  purchased  part  of  the  herd 
at  a  high  figure  by  telegraph.  And  only  a  few 
days  ago  an  American  breeder  "cabled  "to  a 
brother  breeder  in  England  and  bought  his  en- 
tire herd  of  thoroughbred  Berkshire  swine.  A 
few  Ibs.  of  potatoes  have  been  sold  for  $500,  and 
the  seed  of  a  well-bred  tomato  for  a  much  higher 
eum.  In  England  the  offspring  of  a  Yorkshire 
sow  was  sold  for  money  enough  to  build  a 
church,  and  in  this  country  a  breeder  of  Essex 
pigs  has  done  nearly  as  well.  The  purchaser  of 
a  single  pair  of  pure-bred  Essex  swine  has  sold 
pigs  for  over  $10,000,  and  has  a  large  herd  left. 
And  there  is  a  real  substantial  basis  to  all  this. 
A  good,  pure-bred  boar  when  put  to  common 
gows  will  get  pigs  that  at  five  weeks  old  are 
certainly  well  worth  $1  a  head  more  than  com- 
mon pigs ;  and  such  a  boar  as  can  be  often 
purchased  for  $20  or  $25  can  directly  increase 
this  additional  value  to  at  least  a  thousand  pigs. 
The  breeder  who  sells  him  for  $20  gets  pay  for  his 
skill  and  labor,  and  the  purchaser  and  his  neigh- 
bors obtain  even  still  further  profits.  There  are, 
therefore,  prizes— grand  prizes  in  agriculture, 
and  they  are  obtained,  not  at  the  loss  of  some 
one  else,  but  to  the  benefit  of  all  concerned. 


AMERICAN   LIVE   STOCK. 
By  L.F.  ALLEN. 

The  subject  on  which  your  executive  commit/- 
tee has  invited  me  to  address  you,  viz,  "  Our 
live  stock  interests,  in  their  history,  condition, 
and  prospects,"  is  far  too  broad  in  its  scope  to 
be  compressed  within  the  limits  of  an  address 
ou  an  occasion  like  the  present.  Indeed,  it  can 
only  be  treated  in  a  manner  suggestive,  rather 
than  practical,  or  even  historical. 

The  history  of  the  live  stock  of  the  United 
States,  from  the  first  settlement  of  our  Atlan- 
tic seaboard  to  its  present  wonderful  expansion 
to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  would  be  almost  a 
history  of  the  people  themselves,  so  close  has 
been  the  association  of  their  domestic  animals 
with  the  fortunes  of  the  agricultural  popula- 
tion. The  limits  of  this  paper  will  only  allow 
me  to  touch  on  the  introduction  of  our  domes- 
tic animals,  and  follow  them  briefly  for  about 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  progress  into 
their  present  condition  and  prospects  for  the 
future. 

It  is  a  very  broad  subject—the  entire  category 
of  our  farm-stock — embracing  the  nobility  of 
the  horse;  the  utility  of  the  ass,  and  the  hy- 
brid offspring  of  both,  the  mule;  the  branches 
of  the  bovine  race:  the  cow  for  milk,  the  ox 
for  labor,  and  the  bullock  for  beef;  the  sheep 
for  its  flesh  and  wool ;  the  swine  for  flesh,  lard, 
and  oil ;  not  ommitting  poultry,  and  even  the 
"little  busy  bee,"  which  contributes  to  our 
household  comforts  and  luxuries.  You  will 
therefore  excuse  the  brevity  of  my  remarks  in 
each  department,  as  any  questions  suggested 
may  more  fully  be  studied  by  reference  to  the 
many  able  works  devoted  to  different  branches 
of  this  interest. 

First  in  order  may  be  mentioned. 

THE  HOR8B. 

His  domestic  history  is  coeval  with  that  of 
mankind.  He  has  contributed  in  no  small  de- 
gree to  man's  civilization.  Toe  most  ancient  of 
human  anuals,  botn  sacred  and  profane,  nave 
eulogized  him.  His  prowess  has  been  extolled 
in  histories  of  war ;  in  domestic  servitude  his 
indispensable  labors  have  been  grateiuily  ac- 
knowledged; in  luxury  he  is  an  indispensable 
agent,  and  altogether  the  noblest  annual  ever 
under  human  control. 

The  first  introduction  of  the  horse  to  the  vast 
territory  now  comprising  the  United  States  of 
America  was  m  ail  propability  made  by  the 
Spaniards  on  the  coast  of  Florida,  souie  years 
previous  to  the  settlement  of  the  early  English 
and  other  European  colonists  on  our  Atlantic 
shores.  History  gives  us  little  or  no  account  of 
the  breeds  and  characters  of  those  early  iuipor- 
tatious.  TheFloiida  Spaniards  came  out  cnief- 
ly  as  gold  hunters,  and  what  horses  they 
brought  with  them  were  in  all  probability  of  the 
Audalusiau  or  ordinary  Spanish  race,  wnich 
were  lor  many  centuries  bred  by  the  Moots  in 
Spain,  and  subsequently  by  their  Castilliau  cou- 
querers.  Those  tiorses  were  small  in  size,  good 
in  draught  aud  under  ttie  saddle,  hardy  iu  con- 
8tituUon,  and  capable  of  undergoing  great  fa- 


tgiue  with  negligent  treatment;  in  fact  the 
moat  useful  class  of  animals  for  them  and 
their  successors.  Without  nnich,  if  any,  im- 
provement, they  now  plentifully  Inhabit  Tex**, 
California.  New  Mexico,  aud  Mexico  proper. 
They  do  not  really  belong  to  the  class  "  Ameri- 
can horee,"  as  we  now  understand  that  classi- 
fication. 

The  Pettlers  on  our  Atlantic  coast.  beginning 
aboutthe  year  1616,  br.'Ught  out  the  horses  of 
their  own  native  countries'  Hojiund,  Gre^t  Bri- 
tain, Ireland.  Sweden.  Detimnrk,  .France,  and 
Germany  being  thus  luid  under  contribution. 
Grpat  variety  of  character  was  thus  introduced, 
and  as  their  importers  were  men  of  narrow 
means,  the  animals  were  probaoly  not  of  ihe 
choice-t  kinds,  either  in  blood  or  quality,  but 
very  useful  in  the  rude  agriculture  of  the  time. 
As  these  horses  shared  the  hardships  and  priva- 
tions of  their  owners,  no  marked  improvement 
could  be  effected  until  the  introduction  of  sup- 
erior animal"  by  later  immigrants. 

As  the  colonies  grew  in  population  and 
strenarth,  attracting  increased  attention  from 
the  English  government,  under  which  they  were 
all  ultimately  combined,  immigrants  of  wealth, 
©fficial  dignitaries,  and  army  officers  brought 
out  many  valuable  horse-*,  some  few  accounts 
of  which  date  back  to  the  year  1700.  Among 
them  were  choice  specimens  of  the  draught 
variety,  as  well  as  saddle-horses;  but  the  road- 
ster, as  we  now  know  him,  was  then  undevelop- 
ed, from  the  lack  ot  good  roads  and  light  vehi- 
cles. Within  a  few  years,  however,  after  1700, 
several  fine  blond  horses  of  both  sexes  were 
known  to  be  imported  into  Virginia,  New  York, 
and  other  States  both  north  and  south,  many  of 
the  earlier  and  later  immigrants  of  those  States 
being  great  admirers  of  horse  quality.  These 
later  importations  were  closely  interbred  and 
widely  distributed,  and  crossed  on  the  common 
mares  of  the  country.  Thus  a  rapid  improve- 
ment was  made  in  the  style  and  appearance  of 
our  horseflesh  generally,  as  well  as  in  their  supe- 
rior utility  and  value.  So  marked  was  that  im- 
provement that  at  the  outbreak  of  the  revolu- 
tionary war  our  military  officers  were  usually 
equipped  with  horses  of  superior  blood,  quality, 
and  action.  Indeed  many  of  the  brilliant  achieve- 
ments of  our  revolutionary  army  owed  a  share 
of  their  success  to  the  thorough  mounting  of  the 
ca\alry,  and  the  excellence  of  the  horses  ridden 
by  the  commanding  and  staff  officers  of  the  foot 
divisions  and  corps. 

Recovering  from  the  calamities  and  poverty 
of  the  war,  as  the  circumstances  of  our  people 
improved,  the  study  and  cultivation  of  their 
horses  rapidly  increased,  and  the  earlier  years 
of  the  present  century  produced  many  animals 
which,  in  high  breeding,  style,  and  execution 
of  their  work,  equaled  those  of  any  other  coun- 
try, either  on  the  race-course,  under  the  saddle, 
in  the  harness,  or  the  draught. 

A  brief  notice  of  the  various  classes  of  horses 
now  in  approved  use  and  cultivation  among  our 
American  people  may  be  germane  to  the  sub- 
ject ;  and  first  in  order  may  be  named  the 

ENGLISH  THOROUGHBRED,  OR  RACE-HORSE.— 
As  originally  introduced  into  the  American  col- 
onies, and  since  continued  in  our  States,  he  has 
been  the  foundation  of  the  highest  excellence 
yet  developed  for  all  ordinary  use,  aside  from 
the  heavy  and  slower  draught.  About  two  hun- 
dred years  ago,  during  the  reign  of  Charles  II, 
the  race-course  first  began  to  attract  the  atten- 
tion of  the  nobility  and  other  wealthy  aristoc- 
arcy  of  England,  and  it  has  been  continued  down 
to  the  present  time.  As  a  consequence,  speed, 
bottom,  hardiness  and  endurance  were  the  qua- 
lities chiefly  sought  in  the  development  of  the 
race-horse.  For  centuries  previous  they  had 
fine  horses  in  England,  yet  they  needed  improve- 
ment, if  possible,  and  choice  selections  were 
made  from  Egypt,  Arabia  and  the  Barbary  states 
for  stallions,  and  sometimes  mares,  to  infuse 


their  good  qualities  into  the  English  blood.  Many 
crosses  of  foreign  stallions  were  made  on  the 
native  English  mure-*,  and  no  doubt  decided  im- 
provements weie  rteri\e<l  from  their  use,  but, 
after  all.  the  wize  an'i  more  muscular  qualities 
retained  by  the  descendants  of  those  crosses 
were  mainly  of  the  original  English  character, 
jmd  have  been  perpetuated  both  in  England  and 
America  to  the  pre-e  it  •  ay. 

Lrttein  the  lastcen'ury,  and  occasionally  down 
to  recent  ye»rs.  we  hnve  received  importations 
of  choice  stnl!i<irH  from  Asia  and  Africa,  near 
the  Meditterr^nMHii  coast;  but  in  justice  1  must 
rem.irk  that  although  some  of  them  were  of  the 
highest  s.\  mmet  i y  m  form,  action  and  appear- 
ance, yet  when  crossed  upon  our  well-bred 
mares,  a  superior  impress  on  their  descendants, 
except  in  few  i-. stances,  has  not  been  eminently 
noticeable.  Did  lime  permit,  I  might  go  into 
particulars  within  the  limits  of  my  own  obser- 
vation, but  the  fact  must  remain  with  only  a 
general  remark  of  its  truth.  Whether  the  thor- 
oughbred horse  in  the  United  States  has  been 
kept  up  to  the  standard  of  excellence  at  which 
he  has  arrived  in  England,  or  improved  beyond 
him,  an  instance  or  two  may  determine.  I  have 
been  unable  to  learn  the  best  running  time  of 
the  race-horse  in  England,  and  therefore  a  cur- 
rent comparison  between  the  speed  of  the  Amer- 
ican and  English  horse  cannot  be  made. 

In  the  great  national  four-mile  race  of  three 
heats,  on  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  in  the  year  1823, 
between  the  stallions  American  Eclipse,  bred  on 
Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  and  Henry,  bred  in  Virginia, 
the  first  heat  was  taken  by  Henry,  by  a  head 
only,  in  7  minutes  37V6  seconds.  The  other  two 
heats  were  taken  by  Eclipse  in  7  minutes  49  sec- 
onds and  8  minutes  14  seconds,  yet  it  was  never 
exactly  known  what  was  the  very  best  time 
Eclipse  could  make,  only  when  matched  with  a 
nearly  equal  competitor,  as  he  was  called  a  lazy 
horse,  and  bore  the  whip  freely. 

The  Kentucky-bred  stallion,  Lexington,  on  the 
New  Orleans  four-mile  course,  in  the  year  1854, 
won  his  race  in  7  minutes  19%  seconds. 

Fellowcraft,  also  a  Kentucky-bred  stallion, 
won  a  race  on  the  four-mile  course  at  Saratoga, 
in  the  year  1874,  in  7  minutes  19^  seconds.  These 
are  the  two  shortest  races  ever  made,  so  far  as 
records  are  given,  thus  leaving  the  American 
thoroughbred  the  peer  of  any  others  in  the 
world.* 

We  may  well  suppose  that  the  superiority  of 
the  thoroughbred  horse  in  the  combinations  of 
speed,  action,  wind,  bottom  and  fineness  of  pro- 
portions has  been  fully  determined,  and  that  an 
infusion  of  his  blood  would  be  sought  and  work- 
ed into  a  large  class  of  our  miscellaneously-bred 
horses  for  other  purposes  than  the  race-course, 
or  simply  the  gratifications  of  taste  and  pleas- 
ure. Among  the  most  notable  class  of  the  thor- 
oughbred crosses  upon  the  better  ones  of  mis- 
cellaneous character,  is 

THE  AMERICAN  TROTTER,  which  we  claim  as 
solely  an  American  production,  within  the  last 
forty  years,  in  the  highest  development  of  his 
speed. 

A  detailed  history  of  the  trotter  would  require 
many  pages,  for  which  no  time  can  here  be  allot- 
ted, and  the  horse  literature  of  the  country  only 
can  give  it.  Suffice  it  to  say,  however,  that  his 
descent  has  been  largely  drawn  from  the  thor- 
oughbred for  many  years  back  in  his  ancestry. 

Trotting  horses  of  celebrity  have  been  recorded 
in  the  English  periodicals  of  years  ago,  particu- 
larly Bellfounder,  who  trotted  19*4  miles  in  an 
hour  ;  but  in  the  trotting  horse,  classed  by  him- 
self, England,  as  compared  with  America,  has 
yet  made  no  distinguished  record  ;  and  that  the 
American  trotter  has  been  most  skillfully  bred 
and  trained  to  his  recent  astonishing  achiev- 

*  Since  the  above  sentence  was  wri'ten,  the  horee 
Tenbroeck  made  a  race  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  in  7  minutes 
15&  seconds,  beating  Fellowcraft  3^  seconds.— L.  X .  A 


50 


ments  is  a  testimonial  to  our  native  enterprise 
beyond  that  of  any  other  country.  Thirty  years 
ago,  a  horse  that  could  trot  a  mile  in  three  min- 
utes was  eonsidered  a  remarkable  animal.  That 
three  minutes  has  been  gradually  reduced  from 
year  to  year,  until,  in  1875,  the  mare  Goldsmith 
Maid,  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  made  her  mile  In 
2  minutes  and  14  seconds,  and  repeated  it  in  the 
present  year,  1876,  in  the  same  time.  We  now 
have  scores  of  horses  which  make  their  mile  in 
less  than  2J4  minutes  on  the  trotting  courses  of 
the  country,  as  well  as  hundreds  of  them  who 
easily  do  their  mile  in  3  minutes  speed.  Thus 
the  American  trotter  stands  at  the  head  of  his 
class  over  all  others  in  t  e  civilized  world,  as  yet 
discovered. 

If  it  be  inquired  in  what  remarkable  manner 
the  rapid  speed  and  high  qualities  of  the  trotter 
have  benefited  the  ordinary  horse  stock  of  the 
country,  the  answer  is  readily  given  in  the  fact 
that  our  better  class  of  driving  horses  has  been 
wonderfully  improved  in  action,  as  well  as  in 
quicker  movement,  sureness  of  step,  higher 
pleasure  to  all  who  either  drive  or  ride  after 
them,  and  in  the  increased  marketable  price 
they  obtain  for  their  breeders. 

Next  in  order  we  may  remark,  in  the  absence 
of  a  more  appropriate  name,  upon 

THE  HORSE  OF  ALL  WORK,  equally  adapted  to 
family  use,  the  labors  of  the  farm,  or  other  pur- 
poses. I  doubt  if  any  part  of  the  world*  climate 
and  soil  considered,  can  show  a  better  class  of 
horses  than  those  bred  in  the  United  States  and 
the  neighboring  province  of  Canada.  Made  up 
of  no  particular  breed,  but  an  infusion  of  differ- 
ent bloods,  they  answer  an  admirable  purpose 
for  almost  all  uses,  so  far  as  size,  endurance, 
muscular  action,  and  longevity  are  concerned. 
A  composite  breed  they  may  be  called,  if  such  a 
miscellaneous  admixture  can  be  called  a  breed 
at  all.  They  are  of  all  colors  and  all  sizes,  from 
fourteen  and  a  half  to  sixteen  and  a  half  hands 
high,  and  weigh  nine  to  twelve  or  thirteen  hun- 
dred pounds  in  fair  condition  of  flesh.  They  are 
bred  and  reared  by  all  good  farmers  who  make 
horse-rearing  a  branch  of  their  industry,  and  are 
bought  and  distributed  all  over  the  country,  in 
village,  town  and  city,  where,  aside  from  mere 
fancy  use,  the  horse  is  needed.  Good  stallions 
are  kept  for  service  in  almost  every  neighborhood 
of  the  land,  and  of  these  the  horse-breeder  takes 
his  choice  for  service  to  his  mares,  and  succeeds 
in  their  production  as  his  skill  and  care  may  de- 
termine. There  is  another  example  of  the  value 
of  our  horse  of  all  work  in  Great  Britain,  which 
can  boast  as  good  horses,  of  their  kind,  as  any 
part  of  Europe.  Since  the  street  rail-car  has 
been  introduced  into  Great  Britain,  within  the 
past  year  or  two,  it  has  been  found  that  they 
had  no  class  of  horses  especially  fitted  for  that 
work.  It  required  the  sinewy,  elastic  move- 
ment, coupled  with  the  medium  size  and  endur- 
ance in  our  all- work  horse.  As  a  consequence, 
many  hundreds  of  American  horses  have  been 
purchased  in  our  Northern  States  and  Canada 
for  export  to  Britain,  for  other  purposes  as  well 
as  for  street  railways,  and  the  trade  is  still  con- 
tinued to  the  mutual  advantage  of  both  coun- 
tries. 

Another  class  demanded  for  exclusive  pur- 
poses is 

THE  DRAUGHT-HORSE,  PROPER,  needed  for 
heavy  farm  labors,  and  drawing  the  weighty 
loads  in  our  commercial  and  manufacturing 
cities  and  towns,  for  which  the  ordinary  horse 
of  our  farmers  is  incompetent.  Of  this  class,  if 
we  have  any  which  may  be  called  "ancient" 
among  us— say  a  hundred  years  or  more— first 
in  order  stands  the  Conestoga,  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  name  is  a  local  one,  taken  from  a  river  of 
the  central  part  of  that  state.  He  is  supposed 
to  be  a  native  of  Flanders,  and  to  have  been  in- 
troduced by  the  German  immigrants  soon  after 
they  settled  in  Pennsylvania  some  time  in  the 


last  century.  This  horse  is  still  reared  in  Penn- 
sylvania, but  in  smaller  numbers  than  formerly, 
and  in  several  other  states,  and  is  a  decided  fa- 
vorite with  those  who  breed  and  use  them. 
Nearly  or  quite  a  hundred  years  ago,  when  the  set- 
tlements of  that  state  had  extended  westward 
over  the  Alleghany  mountains,  when  towns  be- 
gan to  spring  up,  and  heavy  transportation  be- 
ween  them  and  the  seaboard  became  necessary, 
the  huge  canvas-covered  wagons,  carrying  six 
tons  and  upwards  of  merchandise,  were  drawn  by 
spans  of  four  to  eight  hoi-ses,  with  sometimes  a 
ninth  one  in  single  harness  as  a  leader.  Those 
horses  ranged  from  sixteen  and  a  half  to  seven- 
teen and  a  half  hands  high,  with  bodies  solid  and 
bulky  in  proportion.  Long  before  canals  and 
railroads  were  known  in  our  country,  caravans 
of  those  teams  were  daily  seen  at  all  seasons  of 
the  year  traversing  the  roads  over  the  mountains 
between  Philadelphia  and  Pittsburgh,  and  with 
bear  skin  housings  upon  the  hames,  and  an  arch 
of  bells  above  them,  with  the  driver  seated  on 
the  near  wheel-horse ;  a  more  picturesque  spec- 
tacle of  the  kind  could  rarely  be  imagined.  Their 
usual  rate  of  travel  was  about  twelve  to  four- 
teen miles  a  day.  But  those  caravans,  since  the 
construction  of  railways,  have  mostly  passed 
away,  aud  the  descendants  of  the  stately  teams 
are  now  devoted  chiefly  to  agricultural  uses,  and 
the  drays  and  wagons  in  the  cities.  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  a  better  class  of  heavy  draught  horses  than 
they  have  ever  existed.  It  is  claimed  by  some 
writers  that  the  Conestoga  has  been  bred  to  his 
high  degree  of  excellence  by  crosses  of  the  thor- 
oughbred English  horse,  but  without  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  fact,  as  for  the  last  seventy  years 
he  has  developed  no  trait  of  the  blood-horse  in 
his  composition,  and  in  his  characteristics  has  ad- 
hered solely  to  the  type  of  his  original  progeni- 
tors. 

Other  foreign  breeds  of  the  draught  horse  of 
decided  excellence  have  in  later  years  been  in- 
troduced among  us,  and  are  much  approved. 
Among  these  may  be  named,  in  the  order  of  in- 
troduction, the  Clydesdale.  This  horse  is  of  Scot- 
tish descent,  of  the  largest  size,  seventeen  to 
eighteen  hands  high,  with  a  ponderous  body, 
stout  limbs,  hairy  at  the  fetlocks,  of  high  and 
noble  carriage,  and  unsurpassed  in  weight  and 
strength.  They  occasionally  reach  a  weight  of 
seventeen,  even  eighteen  hundred  pounds.  They 
were  first  introduced  by  the  Scottish  farmers  in 
to  Upper  Canada,  where  they  have  been  bred  in 
considerable  numbers  and  are  still  annually  im  - 
ported.  There  have  been  also  some  direct  im- 
portations from  Scotland  to  the  United  States. 
Many  of  the  Canadian  importations  have  found 
their  way  into  several  of  our  states,  where,  for 
heavy  agricultural  and  other  draught,  they  serve 
a  valuable  purpose. 

The  Suffolk  Punch,  so  called,  is  a  draught  horse 
of  English  breeding  and  descent.  He  is  of  large 
size,  but  smaller  in  bulk  and  stature  than  the 
Clydesdale,  somewhat  similar  in  style  of  body 
and  limb,  but  without  the  hairy  fetlock.  A  few 
of  them  have  been  imported  into  Canada,  and  the 
United  States,  but  have  not  yet  acquired  the 
popularity  of  the  Clydes,  although  of  decided 
excellence  and  a  model  of  their  kind. 

There  are  two  other  classes  of  draught  horse 
introduced  into  our  country,  somewhat  similar 
in  character  and  probable  descent,  and  may  be 
classed  in  nearly  a  parallel  category. 

The  Normans  may  first  be  named  as  earliest  in 
importation.  They  are  natives  of  France,  not  of 
like  style  altogether  with  the  draught  horses  al- 
ready named,  as  they  embody  more  speed  in  ac- 
tion, with  great  strength  of  limb  and  power  of 
locomotion.  They  are  largely  worked  in  the 
heavy  diligence  traveling  carriages  of  France, 
which  they  move  at  five  to  eight  miles  an  hour 
on  the  roads,  holding  a  good  trotting  gait.  They 
are  also  used  for  drawing  heavy  loads  in  the 
cities  and  towns  and  in  agricultural  labor.  Their 


51 


usual  sire  is  sixteen  to  seventeen  hands  in  height, 
compact  in  body,  symmetrical  in  shape,  clean  in 
limb,  hardy  in  exercise,  and  enduring:  in  labor. 
The  stallions  have  been  of  decided  service  in 
crossing- with  our  mares  of  "all  work,"  as  well 
as  in  breeding  with  mares  of  their  own  kind ;  for 
the  mixed  uses  to  which  they  may  be  applied 
are  a  valuable  addition  to  the  horse  stock  of  the 
country. 

Next  to  and  partially  associated  with  the  Nor- 
mans, may  be  named  the  Percherom.  As  a  rule, 
they  are  somewhat  larger  in  size.  -They  are  also 
natives  of  France,  and  applicable  to  the  same 
uses  as  the  Normans,  and  of  equally  good  shape, 
style  and  appearance.  They  have  been  consid- 
erably imported  into  several  of  our  states,  of 
late  years,  and  received  with  approbation  among 
those  who  need  a  beast  of  their  kind.  They  may 
be  pronounced  a  decided  acquisition,  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  the  enterprise  of  their  importers 
may  be  liberally  rewarded.  From  the  numbers 
of  both  sexes  now  here,  a  healthful  production 
of  their  kind,  both  in  general  excellence  and 
purity  of  blood,  may  be  anticipated. 

Nor  in  our  horse  category  should  the  lesser, 
and  even  diminutive  Pony  be  overlooked.  For  a 
century  or  more  past  they  have  been  imported 
into  the  United  States,  of  different  character 
and  style,  from  the  Welsh  and  English  pony  of 
twelve  to  thirteen  hands,  down  to  the  diminu- 
tive little  Shetland  from  the  northern  isles  of 
Scotland,  of  three  feet  or  less  in  stature.  They 
are  usually  symmetrical  in  shape  and  appear- 
ance, of  wonderful  strength,  docility,  hardiness 
and  endurance.  Although  of  little  use  as  labor- 
ing beasts,  they  minister  largely  to  the  pleasure 
of  our  families,  are  the  delights  of  our  children, 
and  worthy  of  attention  and  propagation  as  in- 
nocent promoters  of  luxury  and  enjoyment. 
Under  proper  care  and  attention  they  thrive  as 
well  in  America  as  in  the  countries  from  which 
they  came  to  us. 

THE  ASS. 

This  useful  and  indispensable  animal— useful 
in  mule-breeding  as  well  as  in  the  propagation 
of  his  own  species— is  among  the  most  important 
items  of  our  farm  stock,  and  worthy  of  a  dis- 
criminating notice.  On  the  Eastern  continent 
their  utility  is  of  as  ancient  date  as  that  of  the 
horse,  and  among  many  nations  and  people  their 
labor  is  indispensable.  They  were  early  brought 
into  our  American  colonies,  and  from  their  first 
introduction  until  some  years  of  the  present 
century  were  widely  used  in  the  Atlantic,  Nor- 
thern and  Middle  States  for  the  propagation  of 
mules  for  the  West  Indies  and  our  southern  do- 
mestic markets.  Since  about  the  year  1820,  mule 
breeding  and  rearing  in  the  Eastern  States  being 
superseded  by  the  cheaper  facilities  for  produc- 
ing them  in  several  of  the  more  western  states, 
the  ass  has  ceased  to  be  either  an  article  of 
breeding  or  commerce  where  they  were  first  im- 
ported, and  is  now  rarely  known  within  their 
boundaries.  Yet  in  the  localities  where  now 
most  used,  he  has  been  improved  both  in  size 
and  quality.  Numerous  importations  have  been 
made  during  the  last  seventy  years,  from  Spain, 
Malta  and  other  adjacent  countries,  of  the  best 
blood  of  his  race,  and  their  produce,  bred  on  the 
females  of  American  stock,  have  so  improved 
them  that  we  can  now  exhibit  the  domestic  ass 
as  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  those  of  any  other 
country.  Would  time  permit,  we  might  even  go 
into  particulars,  to  prove  our  assertion,  but  it 
must  now  suffice  to  state  the  fact  in  general 
terms.  With  us  he  is  rarely  used  as  a  laboring 
beast,  his  services  being  superseded  by  the  mule, 
as  our  country  is  happily  free  from  that  low 
class  of  labor  in  which  his  drudgery  is  needed. 

THE  MULE. 

The  origin  and  history  ot  tnis  peculiar  ani- 
mal is  almost  as  ancient  as  that  of  his  progeni- 
tors, the  ass  and  the  horse.  He  has  ever  been 


useful  in  the  industries  of  the  people  of  many 
nations,  both  ancient  and  modern,  and  to  the 
development  of  certain  branches  of  our  Ameri- 
can agriculture,  traffic,  and  commerce  he  is 
widely  appropriated  and  indispensable.  The 
early  mules  of  the  Eastern  States  were  small  in 
size,  seldom  attaining  a  height  of  more  than 
fifteen  hands,  and  usually  less,  yet  of  great 
strength  in  labor,  endurance,  and  longevity; 
but  the  western  mule  has  far  exceeded  him  in 
size,  weight,  and  adaptation  to  the  heavier 
work  demanded  of  him.  It  is  now  not  uncom- 
mon to  find  him  sixteen,  even  seventeen  hands 
high,  with  a  body  in  proportion,  and  frequent- 
ly a  comeliness  in  form  exciting  the  admira- 
tion of  those  who  are  partial  to  his  employ- 
ment. His  u*os  in  the  various  labors  demanded 
of  him  are  so  well  known  that  it  is  unnecessary 
to  name  them  ;  and  in  comparing  him  with  the 
mules  of  other  countries,  it  may  be  truthfully 
said  that  the  American  mule  has  no  superior, 
and  but  few  equals,  and  thus  constitutes  an  im- 
portant staple  of  our  agricultural  wealth.  A 
proper  history  of  the  progress  and  present  con- 
dition of  either  the  American  ass  or  mule  has 
never  yet  been  written  for  publication  other 
than  in  detached  scraps  or  pamphlets,  yet  they 
are  subjects  well  worthy  the  employment  of  an 
able  pen,  and  it  is  hoped  that  such  a  labor  will 
be  undertaken  by  some  one  fully  competent  to 
its  execution. 

AMERICAN  CATTLE. 

To  give  a  history  of  the  rise,  progress,  and 
present  condition  of  this  important  department 
of  our  industry  would  be  to  write  an  elaborate 
book,  the  like  of  which  was  written  some  four 
years  ago  ;  but,  it  has  fallen,  I  fear,  too  seldom 
under  the  notice  of  those  whose  interests  would 
be  promoted  by  its  perusal,  even  under  its  short- 
comings and  imperfections.  However  that  may 
be,  I  shall  briefly,  yet  as  accurately  as  my  ob- 
servation may  allow,  give  some  notes  and  sug- 
gestions on  their  very  wide  importance.  Neat- 
cattle,  in  the  sense  usually  understood  with  us, 
or,  more  strictly,  animals  of  the  bovine  race, 
were  introduced  into  our  Atlantic  States  soon 
after  the  first  settlers  came  over  from  Europe. 
Those  settlers  brought  with  them  animals  rear- 
ed in  the  vicinities  from  which  they  themselves 
came,  of  various  nationalities.  Their  cattle 
were  of  no  particular  breeds  or  distinctive 
names,  that  we  have  learned,  but  such  as  served 
the  wants  of  the  settlers  in  the  production  of 
milk,  the  propagation  of  their  kind,  their  meat 
for  food,  and  their  labor  for  agriculture— ani- 
mals of  a  common  order  only,  as  improved 
breeds  in  those  days  had  not  received  much  at- 
tention in  the  countries  from  which  the  immi- 
grants came.  Anterior,  however,  to  the  coloni- 
al settlements  in  what  are  now  the  United 
States,  the  Spaniards  had  introduced  many  cat- 
tle from  their  own  country  into  the  territories 
of  Mexico  and  further  south,  and  in  the  broad, 
luxuriant  pastures  of  those  regions  they  multi- 
plied into  numerous  herds,  with  little  attention 
to  their  improvement,  as  they  are  now  found 
and  known ;  but  of  late  years,  since  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  California,  they 
have  become  quite  an  article  of  commerce  and 
consumption  in  other  states. 

In  nearly  all  the  grass-producing  or  grazing 
portions  of  our  older  states,  as  the  people  pro- 
gressed in  their  modes  of  agriculture,  their  cat- 
tle, increased  and  multiplied,  were  usually  well 
cared  for,  and  answered  all  the  purposes  de- 
manded of  them.  In  some  sections  of  the  coun- 
try they  were  better  cared  for  than  in  others, 
and  possibly  improved  in  quality  over  the  origi- 
nals from  which  they  sprung;  yet  as  the  set- 
tlers, after  some  years,  began  to  migrate  to 
different  localities,  taking  portions  of  their 
h^rds  with  them,  the  cattle  became  intermixed 
with  those  derived  from  other  nationalities, 
so  that  in  process  of  time  a  general  intermix- 


ture  took  place,  and  the  name  "  common  cattle" 
was  only  known  in  their  application.  This  name 
is  now  continued  to  distinguish  them  from  the 
improved  breeds  of  later  years. 

Occasionally,  and  at  different  times  in  the  last 
century,  tradition  has  informed  us  that  enter- 
prising men  of  wealth  had  imported  some 
choice  cattle  of  "  improved"  blood  from  Europe 
— the  names  of  the  breeds  not  remembered — but 
they  were  so  few,  and  so  little  attention  was 
paid  to  their  propagation  in  their  own  distinct 
lines,  that  they  soon  became  amalgamated  with 
the  common  stocks.  Yet  that  the  iufusion  of 
their  blood  among  the  others  to  some  extent 
made  their  progeny  better  than  the  older  herds 
we  have  good  reason  to  believe,  particularly  as 
the  working  oxen  of  the  Eastern  States,  and 
their  superior  dairy  cows,  for  some  generations 
past,  have  been  held  in  high  estimation.  This 
assertion  may,  however,  be  qualified  by  saying 
that  the  oxen  were  chiefly  used  in  labor  on  the 
farms,  and  the  dairy  formed  a  considerable 
staple  of  their  agriculture ;  consequently  draw- 
ing closer  attention  to  tne  cultivation  of  their 
cattle.  In  the  more  fertile  soils  of  the  Middle 
States,  which  were  chiefly  grain  growing,  horses 
were  used  for  labor  and  cows  in  the  dairy  main- 
ly for  domestic  consumption,  while  the  steers 
and  bullocks  grown  by  them  were  for  meat  pur- 
poses, or,  if  for  labor  at  all,  only  for  a  few 
years,  until  the  forests  were  subdued  and  the 
land  made  clear  for  horse  cultivation. 

BREEDS  OF    CATTLE. 

Of  improved  cattle  we  now  have  several  valu- 
able and  distinct  varieties.  A  few  remarks  on 
each  of  them  must  suffice  ;  and  first  in  order, 
as  they  are  by  far  the  most  numerous  in  attract- 
ing the  attention  of  our  farmers,  breeders,  and 
graziers,  I  name  the 

SHORT-HORNS.— Soon  after  the  revolutionary 
war,  and  previous  to  the  year  1800,  a  few  ani- 
mals of  this  breed  were  imported  by  two  dififer- 
ert  Englishmen  into  the  city  of  New  York.  The 
fact  of  their  importation  is  the  chief  thing 
known  about  them,  as  only  a  few  results  are 
now  recognized  from  their  breeding.  One  of 
the  imported  cows  was  taken  back  to  England 

-"the  American  Cow,"  so  called,  of  the  En- 
glish Herd-Book—  from  which,  afterward,  many 
noted  and  valuable  animals  descended.  About 
the  same  years,  also,  two  different  importations 
of  cattle,  supposed  to  be  Short-horns,  were 
made  from  England  into  Baltimore  and  taken  to 
the  valley  of  the  south  branch  of  the  Potomac 
River,  in  Virginia,  and  from  there,  within  a  few 
years  afterward,  some  of  their  descendants 
were  driven  to  the  blue-grass  region  of  Ken- 
tucky, where  they  were  carefully  propagated, 
and  in  after  years,  crossed  by  bulls  of  still  later 
importations,  became  an  important  item  of  the 
cattle-wealth  of  that  state. 

We  hear  of  no  further  Short-horn  importa- 
tions until  after  the  war  with  England,  in  1812-'- 
15.  Soon  afterward,  several  importations  of 
them  were  made  into  New  fork,  Massachu- 
setts, Kentucky*  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania. 
They  were  industriously  bred  by  their  enterpris- 
ing owners,  and  the  valuable  qualities  of  their 
own  distinct  blood,  and  the  improvement 
through  their  crosses  upon  the  common 
cows  of  the  country  for  most  useful  pur- 
poses, soon  gave  them  a  popularity  and  dissemi- 
nation attained  by  no  other  breed,  and  since  fol- 
lowed by  numerous  importations  into  many  of 
our  states  and  the  Canadas.  They  now  stand 
largely  in  excess  of  numbers  over  all  other 
foreign  breeds  put  together.  The  various  merits 
of  this  breed  it  is  not  now  necessary  to  discuss, 
as  different  opinions  may  be  entertained  regard- 
ing them,  but  the  fact  may  be  stated  that  their 
recorded  pedigrees  in  the  Herd- Book  now  num- 
ber more  than  60,000  well-bred  animals,  and  at 
the  present  time  they  are  increasing  more  rapid- 
ly than  at  any  previous  period  io  their  history. 


DEVONS.— This  is  A  strikingly  distinct  breed  in 
form  and  quality,  medium  In  size,  uniformly  re4 
in  color,  comely  in  aopenrancp,  and  of  decided 
excellence:  the  ox  f«>r  Inhor.  as  his  ainle  form 
indicates  ;  the  cow  for  milk,  whpn  cultivated  for 
that  object,  and  the  uniform  excellence  of  their 
flesh  when  properly  fed  and  matured.  Nor  can 
there  be  any  doubt  of  the  original  distinctive 
blood  of  the  Devon.  Their  advocates  in  England 
claim  them  to  be  HS  ancient  in  blood  and  descent 
as  the  Roman  rule  in  that  island,  many  hundred 
years  ago  ;  but  by  what  evidence,  other  than  in 
their  peculiar  style  of  form  and  character,  is  not 
known.  That  animals  allied  to  them  in  blood 
were  brought  to  America  from  England  so  long 
ago  as  in  the  seventeenth  century  is  altogether 
probable,  as  many  of  the  native  New  England 
cattle,  for  many  generations  back,  have  borne 
strong  resemblances  to  the  Devon  in  some  of 
their  characteristics. 

The  first  authentic  knowledge  we  have  of  thor- 
oughbred Devons  being  imported  into  our  coun- 
try was  in  the  year  1817,  by  Messrs.  Caton  and 
Patterson,  of  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  in  the  next 
year  by  the  late  distinguished  statesman.  Rufus 
King,  of  Long  Island,  N.  Y.  By  those  gentlemen 
they  were  bred  and  cultivated,  and  herds  from 
them  considerably  disseminated  in  different  sec- 
tions of  the  country.  Later  importations  of 
them  have  been  made  into  Maryland,  Massachu- 
setts, New  York  and  some  other  states.  There 
are  now  several  fine  herds  of  them  existing  in 
different  sections  of  the  country,  but,  we  regret 
to  say,  not  in  the  numbers  which  their  good 
qualities  should  command,  but  of  excellence 
quite  equal  to  the  original  importations.  It  is 
hoped  that  they  will  still  further  increase,  until 
they  become  numerous  among  the  standard 
breeds  of  our  country. 

HEREFORDS.— Next  in  order  of  improved  cattle 
this  breed  may  be  named.  The  first  distinct  ac 
count  we  have  of  thoroughbred  ones  of  the  kind 
were  an  importation  by  the  great  Kentucky 
statesman,  Henry  Clay,  in  the  year  1816.  An  ar- 
dent admirer  of  fine  stock,  he  saw  them  in  Eng- 
land in  1815,  and  purchased  two  pairs  of  bulls 
and  cows,  which  afterward  came  out  and  were 
placed  on  his  farm  at  Ashland,  near  Lexington. 
Whether  any  or  what  number  of  thoroughbred 
produce  came  from  them,  we  are  not  informed, 
as  no  record  was  kept,  and  they  are  not  now 
known  in  Kentucky.  The  bulls  were  bred  to 
some  of  the  native  cows  in  their  vicinity,  but  the 
Short-horns,  which  were  imported  there  soon 
afterward,  superseded  them  in  propagation,  and 
we  hear  nothing  further  of  their  produce. 

About  the  year  1834,  one  or  more  Hereford 
bulls,  and  perhaps  a  cow  or  two,  were  imported 
into  Massachusetts.  We  hear  of  no  thoroughbred 
produce  from  them,  but  the  bulls  were  bred  to  a 
limited  extent  on  common  cows,  and  no  marked 
result  followed,  except  some  grand  working 
oxen,  afterward  fed  into  excellent  carcasses  of 
beef.  In  later  years,  a  few  importations  of  choice 
animals  were  made  into  New  York,  Ohio  and 
Upper  Canada.  Their  descendants  have  been 
scattered  in  small  herds  into  several  states,  but, 
we  regret  to  say,  not  with  the  popularity  which 
such  excellent  grazing  and  beef-producing  ani- 
mals merit.  As  flesh  producers  they  strongly 
rival  the  Short-horns,  and  in  size  nearly  equal 
them.  They  are  mainly  red  in  color,  with  white 
or  mottled  faces,  aud  occasionally  white  legs  and 
bellies,  and  stripes  along  the  back.  In  England 
they  are  claimed  as  an  ancient  breed,  and  their 
distinctive  uniform  appearance  well  beard  out 
the  assertion. 

The  three  English  breeds  already  named  may 
be  classed  as  the  best  flesh-producers. 

Next  in  order  may  be  named  the  breeds  more 
distinctly  used  for  dairy  purposes:  the 

AYRSHIRE.— This  is  claimed  as  a  dairy  or  milk- 
ing breed,  and  wherever  known,  either  at  their 
native  homes  in  Scotland,  or  in  their  later  ones 


58 


in  the  United  States,  are  esteemed  and  cultivated 
for  that  exclusive  purpose.  They  are  said,  by 
authentic  history,  to  have  been  originated  about 
a  century  ago  in  the  district  of  Ayrshire,  whence 
the  name  was  taken,  by  a  cross  of  Short-horn 
bulls  from  the  north  of  England  on  the  common 
or  native  Kyloe  cow  of  Scotland,  and  cultivated 
into  their  present  excellent  dairy  qualities  by 
careful  and  persistent  breeding,  until  their  char- 
acteristics have  become  fixed  and  enduring. 
They  were  first  imported  in  small  numbers  to 
America  between  the  years  1830  and  1830,  as 
nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  and  within  the  last 
thirty  years  in  such  numbers  as  now  to  be  found 
in  many  considerable  herds.  They  are  highly 
esteemed  by  those  who  are  partial  to  them  for 
their  large  yields  of  milk,  which  render  them 
much  more  profitable  for  dairy  uses  than  the 
common  cows  of  the  country.  In  size  they  are 
about  equal  to  our  common  cattle ;  in  color, 
usually  red  or  brown,  more  or  less  mixed  with 
white ;  in  shape,  more  like  the  Short-horn  than 
any  others,  although  lacking  their  fine  contour 
and  comeliness  of  appearance—a  valuable  breed 
of  cattle. 

HOLSTEINS,       OB    NORTH     HOLLANDS.  —  This 

breed,  in  its  present  characteristic  of  great 
milk-producing  quality,  has  been  introduced 
here  within  the  last  twelve  or  fifteen  years,  from 
Holland,  and  first,  we  believe,  imported  by  the 
late  Mr.  Chenery,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
They  are  of  large  size,  nearly  equal  in  weight 
and  bulk  to  the  Short-horn,  and  have  some  of 
their  strong  points  of  character,  but  coarser, 
less  refined  in  figure,  and  black  and  white  in 
color.  For  the  few  years  in  which  they  have 
be'en  on  trial  here,  their  dairy  development  has 
been  remarkable  in  the  quantity  of  their  milk. 
As  a  flesh-producing  beast  they  are  claimed  to 
be  good,  but  the  economical  result  in  their  con- 
sumption of  food  to  weight  of  flesh  has  not 
been  thoroughly  solved.  They  are  unquestion- 
ably good  cattle,  far  superior  to  our  native 
cows;  and  when  sufficient  time  has  passed  to 
develop  their  full  qualities,  they  may  stand  in 
the  first  class  of  dairy  cows.  They  are  evident- 
ly of  an  ancient  stock,  originating  possibly  in 
Holstein  or  North  Holland,  and  may  in  some 
branches  of  their  ancestry  have  had  an  affinity 
with  the  far-back,  unimproved  Short-horns,  al- 
though in  color  and  general  appearance  now 
much  unlike  our  Short-horns  of  the  present 
day. 

Last,  but  not  least  in  importance,  may  be 
named  the 

ALDEBNEY,  JEBSEY,  AND  GUEBNSEY,  from 
the  Channel  Islands  of  Britain,  near  the  coast 
of  France.  These  breeds  or  varieties  are  named 
together,  as  they  are  unquestionably  of  com- 
mon origin,  and  owe  their  present  distinctive 
qualities  in  appearance  to  their  manner  of 
breeding,  and  the  tastes  and  preferences  of  their 
long-time  propagators.  That  they  are  an  an- 
cient breed  there  can  be  no  doubt,  probably 
French  in  origin,  as  the  cows  of  the  provinces 
of  Normandy  and  Brittany  bear  a  considerable 
resemblance  to  them ;  but  isolated  as  they  have 
been  from  the  mainland  of  the  continent  during 
the  centuries  of  their  cultivation  on  the  islands, 
they  have  assumed  the  characteristics  which  so 
readily  distinguish  them.  In  size  they  are 
smaller  than  our  native  cows,  delicate  in  form, 
unique  in  shape,  diversified  in  color,  and  blood- 
like  in  appearance.  The  prime  quality  claimed 
for  the  cow  is  the  exceeding  yellow  color  and 
rich  quality  of  her  milk,  cream,  and  butter,  in 
all  which  she  stands  without  a  rival,  although 
her  quantity  of  milk  is  moderate,  compared 
with  the  weight  of  butter  which  it  yields.  For 
the  production  of  meat  the  channel  island  cow, 
or  even  bullock,  (whenever  suffered  to  become 
a  bullock,)  is  inferior,  the  anatomy  being  angu- 
lar, and  not  capable  of  making  much  flesh  in 
the  choicest  parts  of  the  carcass.  Within  the 


last  thirty  years  they  have  been  numerously 
imported  into  our  States,  and  are  much  sought 
in  the  vicinities  of  our  large  cities,  towns,  and 
villages  as  family  cows.  They  are  easily  kept 
in  small  paddocks  or  close  stables,  where  their 
rather  delicate  natures  can  receive  the  attention, 
kind  treatment,  and  choice  food  usually  bestow- 
ed upon  them. 

For  all  these' improved  breeds  herd-books  con- 
taining their  genealogy,  by  way  of  pedigree, 
are  kept  in  the  United  States,  as  well  as  in 
their  native  countries,  and  from  them  a  full 
knowledge  of  their  descent  and  blood  is  readily 
obtained  by  all  who  choose  to  inquire  into  their 
breeding.  Prices  might  be  quoted  of  the  sale 
values  of  several  of  these  breeds  of  cattle- 
some  of  them  seemingly  extravagant  in  amount 
—but  such  statistical  reference  is  not  demand- 
ed in  this  limited  discourse,  rather  leaving  it  to 
the  tastes,  judgments,  and  fancies  of  those  in- 
terested in  their  breeding.  The  introduction  of 
these  improved  breeds  has  added  enormously  to 
the  value  of  the  neat-stock  of  our  country,  and 
their  further  dissemination  is  yet  to  add  un- 
told millions  to  its  productive  agriculture. 
Slow  as  farmers,  cattle-breeders,  graziers,  and 
dairymen  have  proverbially  been  in  the  im- 
provement of  their  herds,  a  rapid  and  more  in- 
telligent interest  is  every  year  manifested  in 
their  increase. 

In  addition  to  the  breeds  of  cattle  already 
named  may  be  a  few  others  of  foreign  origin 
introduced  at  different  times  by  way  of  experi- 
ment or  personal  gratification;  but  as  they  have 
taken  no  strong  hold  on  the  attention  of  our 
stock-breeders,  a  further  notice  of  them  may- 
be omitted,  while  in  the  grand  specimens  of  the 
various  breeds  which  have  been  mentioned  we 
may  assert,  without  contradiction,  that  no 
country  in  the  universe  contains  better  herds 
than  the  United  States  of  America  can  now  ex- 
hibit. 

The  subject  of  our  neat-cattle  can  hardly  be 
dismissed  without  an  allusion  to  an  important 
item  of  their  increasing  value  in  fresh  beef  ex- 
portation, which  has  recently  been  developed 
by  the  demand  for  fresh  carcass  meat  from 
abroad,  particularly  in  Great  Britain.  Refrig- 
erators have  been  fitted  up  in  Atlantic  steam- 
ships, and,  by  the  aid  of  ice,  many  tons  of 
beef,  in  quarters  of  the  carcass,  have  already 
been,  and  unlimited  tons  more  may  continue  to 
be,  transported  to  Europe  with  entire  safety, 
and  in  perfect  freshness.  The  prices  for  which 
it  has  been  sold  in  the  London  and  Liverpool 
markets  have  proved  equal  to  those  for  the 
best  qualities  of  their  native  beef,  and  profit- 
able to  the  shippers.  There  is,  however,  a  con- 
dition attached  to  our  successful  exports,  which 
is,  that  the  meat  be  of  the  best  quality,  and 
that  quality  can  only  be  obtained  from  animals 
of  improved  breeds  which  have  been  partially 
described.  We  have  only  to  proceed  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  those  breeds,  in  order  to  add  a  wide, 
almost  illimitable,  field  of  production  to  the 
neat-stock  interests  of  our  country. 

SHEEP. 

These  were  early  introduced  into  our  American 
colonies  as  companions  of  the  horses  and  cattle 
brought  by  the  settlers.  They  were  of  the  kinds 
then  common  to  England,  Scotland,  Ireland  and 
perhaps  the  western  coast  of  the  European  con- 
tinent, of  various  breeds,  as  they  then  locally 
prevailed,  but  without  much  merit,  other  than 
a  tolerable  carcass  of  ordinary  flesh  and  a  mod- 
erate fleece  of  coarse  wool.  They  were  so  kept 
and  propagated,  with  possibly  an  occasional  im- 
portation of  a  better  kind  from  England,  but  it 
was  not  until  late  in  the  last  century  that  Bake- 
well,  Ellmau  and  other  enterprising  breeders 
made  their  experiments  in  different  breeds 
which  resulted  in  any  considerable  improvement 
in  their  condition  and  appearance.  Thus  the 


54 


American  sheep  were  chiefly  of  an  inferior  char- 
acter 

MERINO.— In  the  early  years  of  the  present 
century  the  American  embassadorsatthe  courts 
of  France,  Spain  and  Portugal,  during  the  in- 
tense commotions  of  the  Bonapartean  wars, 
purchased  and  shipped  to  the  United  States  many 
hundreds  of  Spanish  Merino  sheep.  They  were 
of  the  flne-wooled  varieties,  named  as  you  will 
find  in  our  books  on  sheep  husbandry.  Their  in- 
troduction here  was  hailed  with  great  satisfac- 
tion, and  as  our  infant  woolen  manufactories 
were  then  just  emerging-  into  existence,  great 
importance  was  given  to  their  propagation,  not 
only  in  their  own  purity  of  blood,  but  as  valua- 
ble crosses  on  our  common  flocks  in  increasing 
and  refining  the  qualities  of  their  wool.  From 
those  days  forward  to  the  present  time  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  better  qualities  of  wool  has  been 
the  study  of  numerous  flock-masters  in  various 
parts  of  the  United  States,  suitable  to  their  rear- 
ing, and  the  sheep  interest  now  presents  an  im- 
portant branch  of  our  agricultural  production 
and  wealth.  The  Spanish  Merino  has  evidently 
been  much  improved  in  its  American  cultivation, 
not  only  through  the  crosses  of  more  recent  im- 
portation by  several  of  our  enterprising  Ameri- 
cans from  the  royal  flocks  of  France,  Saxony 
and  Silesia,  upon  the  earlier  Merino  ewes,  but  by 
our  own  flock-masters  at  home,  so  that  at  this 
day  no  fine-wool  sheep  in  the  world  excel,  and 
few  equal,  the  American  Merinos  in  the  heavy 
products  of  their  fleeces,  or  the  size  and  stamina 
of  their  bodies.  We  might  examine  the  statis- 
tics of  their  annual  production  aggregating  mil- 
lions of  dollars  in  value  did  opportunity  permit, 
but  we  may  rest  content  with  the  general  facts 
which  have  been  stated  and  the  progress  we 
have  made  in  their  cultivation,  Hot  only  in  the 
fine  wool  but  in  the  other  varieties. 

THE  COARSER- WOOLED  MUTTON- SHEEP,  so  suc- 
cessfully bred  in  England  during  the  last  seventy 
years,  we  have  for  the  past  thirty  years  adopted 
by  frequent  importations.  They  have  been  suc- 
cessfully propagated  in  their  own  purity  of 
blood,  and  by  their  crosses  on  the  common  flocks 
raised  our  inferior  ones  to  a  value  hitherto  un- 
known in  their  kind.  We  have  now  the  Bake- 
well,  or  Leicester,  the  Cotswold,  and  Lincoln,  all 
of  the  most  valuable  long- wool  varieties.  We 
have  also  the  Southdown,  the  Shropshire  and 
Oxford  Downs  of  the  middle  wools,  abundant 
in  fleece,  massive  in  the  quantity  and  delicious 
in  the  excellence  of  tneir  flesh,  so  that  Ameri- 
cans may,  within  the  next  decade  or  two,  be- 
come, as  they  have  never  yet  become,  a  partially 
mutton-  consuming  people,  and  ship  thousands 
of  dressed  carcasses  to  Britain,  as  is  now  done 
with  our  fresh  beef. 

SWINE. 

In  the  category  of  other  domestic  animals 
brought  into  our  country  with  the  early  immi- 
grants came  also  this  animal  indispensable  for 
domestic  consumption,  constituting  an  import- 
ant item  in  our  exports  abroad.  From  the  ear- 
liest history,  swine  have  been  connected  with 
farm-husbandry,  as  well  as  untamed  rangers  of 
the  forest,  in  which  latter  condition  they  even 
now  exist  in  some  of  the  uncultivated  sections 
of  the  Eastern  continent.  To  what  degree  of 
perfection,  or  even  improvement,  they  were  cul- 
tivated in  ancient  times,  history  gives  us  little  or 
no  account;  but  we  do  know  that  for  many 
years  previous  to  the  present  century,  and  for 
some  years  since,  the  common  swine  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  were  inferior  in  the  quality  of  their 
flesh,  ungainly  in  form,  slow  in  arriving  at  ma- 
turity, and  repulsive  in  almost  every  phase  of 
their  character  as  companions  to  our  other  agri- 
cultural stock.  Yet  in  Eastern  Asia,  and  in  por- 
tions of  Europe,  perhaps  for  a  century  or  more 
past,  considerable  advances  had  been  made  in 
the  improvement  of  their  domestic  swine,  as  a 


few  years  after  the  revolutionary  war,  importa- 
tions of  improved  animals  of  the  kind  were  in- 
troduced into  our  country,  and  among  them  we 
have  accounts  that  General  Washington  had 
some  of  them  which  were  sent  over  as  a  present 
to  him  at  Mount  Vernon,  from  England.  Early 
in  the  present  century,  also,  the  East  India  mer- 
chants of  Massachusetts  and  New  York  imported 
some  fine  specimens  from  China  and  India,  which 
were  afterward  considerably  crossed  on  the 
common  stocks  of  our  Eastern  States,  and  much 
improved  them  both  in  the  qualities  of  their 
flesh  and  domestic  habits.  Still,  until  within  the 
last  fifty,  or  even  forty  years,  the  mass  of  our 
farmers  throughout  the  country,  and  more  par- 
ticularly in  the  Western  States,  bred  and  reared 
swine  of  ordinary  character,  answering,  to  be 
sure,  the  main  requirements  of  consumable 
flesh,  but  inferior  in  its  high  condition  to  that 
now  found  in  our  markets,  either  for  domestic 
consumption  or  exportation. 

The  various  foreign  breeds  to  which  we  are 
indebted  for  our  present  swine  improvement 
are  too  numerous  to  mention,  and  their  history 
in  detail,  though  quite  interesting,  is  too  long  to 
narrate,  but  the  agricultural  literature  of  our 
several  states  will  fully  inform  all  inquirers  of 
their  various  progress  and  present  status.  As 
an  evidence  of  the  present  interest  in  their  pro- 
duction and  improvement,  an  association  of 
swine-breeders  has  recently  been  formed,  whose 
headquarters  are  at  Spring-field,  111.  They  have 
issued  a  swine  herd-book  for  the  Berkshire 
breed,  after  the  style  of  the  various  cattle  herd- 
books,  in  which  their  genealogy  and  high  excel- 
lences are  chronicled.  Not  that  we  woud  exa^lt 
this  particular  breed  above  others,  perhaps 
equally  meritortous,  but  to  signalize  the  enter- 
prise of  our  farmers,  and  the  magnitude  of  the 
pork  and  lard-producing  interest  of  our  country 
amounting  to  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  an- 
nually. The  swine  of  the  United  States  now  con- 
sume a  great  share  of  the  product  of  the  almost 
illimitable  corn  fields  of  our  Western  and  upper 
Southern  States,  thus  converting  a  great  portion 
of  that  valuable  grain  into  a  portable  commodity, 
which,  without  them,  would  be  either  a  drug, 
or  an  almost  inconvertible  staple  of  their  agri- 
culture. We  may,  in  view  of  the  progress  we 
have  made  in  swine  cultivation  and  improve- 
ment, place  the  United  States  superior  to  that 
of  any  other  country  in  the  world. 

POULTRY. 

To  descend  to  a  smaller,  yet  quite  indispensable, 
item  of  food  consumption  in  pur  households,  as 
well  as  ornamental  accompaniments  of  domestic 
life,  the  varieties  of  our  poultry  may  well  and 
profitably  be  mentioned.  They,  too,  (the  turkey 
excepted)  came  over  with  the  early  settlers  of 
our  American  colonies,  and  have  been  the  inti- 
mate associates  of  our  people  ever  since.  They 
constitute  an  important  part  ot  the  luxury  of 
our  tables,  both  in  their  flesh  and  eggs,  the  ag- 
gregate commercial  value  of  which,  were  it  ac- 
curately reckoned,  amounts  to  millions  of  dol- 
lars annually.  The  poultry  literature  of  our 
country  is  voluminous,  both  in  books  and  vari- 
ous agricultural  periodicals,  to  which  those  in 
search  of  information  may  readily  refer.  As  a 
general  remark,  it  may  suffice  to  say  that  im- 
portations from  foreign  countries,  of  various 
breeds  of  them,  have  been  frequent  and  of  rare 
quality,  both  in  the  estimation  of  the  economist 
who  propagates  them  for  profit,  as  well  as  the 
amateur,  for  the  gratification  of  his  taste  in  their 
selection  and  exhibition.  Poultry  societies  have 
become  numerous  throughout  the  land,  and  the 
annual  exhibitions  of  their  various  specimens 
have  been  marvelous  iu  excellence,  beauty,  and 
vaiiety.  The  cultivation  of  the  finer  varieties 
has  arrested  the  attention  of  men  and  women 
of  taste,  wealth  and  refinement  to  such  an  ex- 


55 


tent  that  the  perfection  of  our  poultry  may  even 
be  classed  among  the  fine  arts  of  animated  na- 
ture, and  challenge  competition  with  any  por- 
tion of  the  universe. 

Least  and  last  of  the  domestic  creatures  which 
engage  our  attention  may  be  named  a  small  in- 
sect, 

THE  HONEY  BEE. 

Time,  long  before  and  ever  since  the  bee  made 
its  honey  in  the  carcass  of  the  dead  lion  slain  by 
Sampson,  has  noted  this  useful  insect  in  its  com- 
panionship with  man,  as  well  as  in  its  wild  habi- 
tations in  the  wilderness,  where  climate  and 
vegetation  favored  its  propagation.  It  furnish- 
es us  the  most  luxuriant  of  sweets  in  its  honey, 
and  an  important  commodity  in  its  wax.  The 
aggregate  annual  commercial  value  of  our  bee- 
product  is  probably  Imndreds  of  thousands  of 
dollars,  being  difficult  to  determine,  from  the 
want  of  current  statistics  ;  yet  all  who  choose 
to  investigate  may  be  assured  of  their  import- 
ance. Of  bee  literature,  we  have  public  jour- 
nals devoted  to  their  interest,  many  volumes  of 
printed  books,  and  divers  essays  in  our  agricul- 
tural periodicals  :  and  were  I  to  relate  the  an- 
nals of  my  own  personal  companionship  with 
them  for  many  years  past,  I  should  only  tell  you, 
that  at  the  present  day  they  are  both  as  untam- 
ed and  uncivilized  as  when  the  great  patriarch, 
Noah,  let  them  out  of  his  ark  to  forage  among 
the  renewed  plants  and  flowers  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Ararat.  They  live,  propagate,  and  sub- 
sist by  instinct  alone,  and  not  all  the  invention 
or  ingenuity  of  man  has  been  able  to  improve 
their  qualities,  to  change  their  habits,  or  invite 
them  to  a  companionable  docility.  Even  the 
importation  of  the  superior  Italian  bee  into  our 
country  in  late  years,  and  crossing  them  on  our 
common  stock,  has  not  perceptibly  improved 
their  habits.  So,  lovable  as  they  may  be  in  their 
sweets  and  wax,  they  are  barbarians  now,  as 
ever,  and  equally  at  home  in  the  hollow  trunk 
of  a  tree  in  the  wildest  forest,  as  in  their  hives 
amid  the  flowers  of  the  field,  or  the  refinements 
of  the  most  highly  cultivated  orchard  and  gar- 
den. 

Now,  gentlemen,  in  all  this  long  dissertation  I 
have  probably  told  you  nothing  new,  and  little 
which  will  prove  instructive,  or  even  worthy  of 
publication.  Yet  we  have  seen  that  from  the 
rudest  material  at  the  beginning  of  our  agricul- 
tural settlements  we  have  made  decided  pro- 
gress in  the  breeding  and  cultivation  of  our  do- 
mestic animals,  and  that  chiefly,  within  the  last 
century.  We  find  that  much  has  thus  far  been 
accomplished,  and  with  the  aids  and  lights  now 
at  our  disposal,  we  trust  a  still  more  rapid  and  a 
more  widely  disseminated  progress  can  be 
achieved  in  the  future. 

The  present  value  of  all  our  varieties  of  do- 
mestic live  stock  in  the  United  States  and  its 
territories  may  be  safely  estimated  at  two  thou- 
sand millions  of  dollars,  and  their  annual  pro- 
duct of  all  kinds  at  one  thousand  millions 
more.  Full  30  per  cent,  has  been  added  to  the 
aggregate  per  capita  value  of  ourlgraded  stock 
by  improvements  in  their  breeding  within  the 
last  fifty  years,  and  at  no  increased  cost  in  their 
keeping,  although  those  improved  animals  as 
yet  extend  over  only  a  fractional  part  of  our 
country.  What  then  may  be  the  increased 
measure  of  value  when— if  such  a  thing  be  pos- 
sible—that improvement  shall  embrace  the  farm- 
stock  of  our  entire  broad  nationality  ?  It  must 
be  almost  incalculable. 

In  review  of  this  live-stock  history  and  pro- 
gress which  has  been  considered,  I  wish  here  to 
note,  and  with  somewhat  of  emphasis,  that, 
with  the  exception  of  our  finer  classes  of  horses, 
the  breeding,  rearing,  and  cultivation  of  our 
farm-stock  has  been  hitherto  considered,  by 
those  not  intimately  acquainted  with  it,  as  an 
occupation  of  a  rather  vulgar  order,  and  con- 
ducted by  men  of  duller  intellects  than  those 


engaged  In  professional,  scientific,  commercial, 
or  manufacturing  pursuits.  Such  a  supposition 
is  a  profound  and  ignorant  mistake,  based  only 
on  an  entire  misapprehension  of  the  study  of 
animal  physiology.  The  cultivation  of  domestic 
animals,  and  their  improvement,  through  gene- 
rations of  their  kind,  into  the  admirable  speci- 
mens which  we  now  see,  is  as  much  a  branch  of 
the  fine  arts,  applied  to  animal  physiology,  as 
are  the  superb  specimens  of  statuary  and  paint- 
ing which  you  to-day  witness  in  these  Centen- 
nial rooms,  produced  by  the  successors  of  Phi- 
dias, Michael  Angelo,  Raphael,  or  Claude  Lor- 
raine. 

Among  the  improvers  of  domestic  live  stock 
within  the  last  two  centuries,  both  in  Europe 
and  America,  will  be  found  men  of  the  highest 
intellect,  learning,  refinement,  position,  and 
wealth,  whose  studies  have  been  drawn  to  the 
development  and  exaltation  of  the  qualities  of 
their  animals.  I  need  not  recount  the  names  of 
distinguished  Europeans,  past  and  present,  who 
have  lent  their  influence  and  labors  to  that  pur- 
suit ;  nor  to  Americans,  from  George  Washing- 
ton, of  Virginia,  Chancellor  Livingston,  of  New 
York,  Henry  Clay,  the  great  Kentucky  states- 
man, and  a  large  number  of  eminent  men  of  all 
professions  and  pursuits,  aside  from  enterpris- 
ing farmers  proper,  whose  main  business  has 
been  that  of  breeding  and  rearing  improved 
classes  of  stock— names  both  dead  and  living, 
all  too  numerous  to  mention.  Nor  has  the  at- 
tention of  those  breeders  and  improvers  been 
limited  to  the  most  valuable  classes  of  stock, 
but  equally  so  to  those  of  minor  commercial 
value.  Women,  too,  of  equal  rank  and  position 
in  society  with  men,  both  in  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, may  be  classed  in  the  noble  array  of  fine- 
stock  improvers— all  in  their  labors  benefactors 
of  mankind. 

God  has  appointed  our  lot  in  a  country  of  di- 
versified climates,  and  blessed  it  with  a  won- 
drous fertility  of  soils.  If  a  due  improvement 
of  our  advantages  be  hereafter  neglected,  on 
those  guilty  of  that  neglect  will  rest  the  penalty; 
and  yet,  when  another  Centennial  of  American 
Independence  shall  arrive,  we  trust  that  those 
who  then  succeed  us  may  rejoice,  as  we,  their 
progenitors,  now  do  at  the  present,  in  a  still 
higher  advancement  to  crown  their  labors  with 
thanksgiving  and  gratitude  to  the  benignant 
Father  of  Mercies,  for  the  successes  they  shall 
have  achieved  and  enjoyed. 


AMERICAN  DAIRYING. 


By  X.  A.    WILLARD.  A.  M. 


[An  address  before  the  National  Agricultural 
Congress  at  Philadelphia,  Sept.  13,  1876.] 

Gentlemen :— Dairying  is  of  very  ancient 
origin.  The  manufacture  of  cheese  and  butter 
was  known  and  practiced  more  than  three 
thousand  years  ago.  In  the  earliest  history  of 
the  human  race  mention  is  made  of  cheese  and 
butter,  and  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  these 
products  were  known  and  used  as  food  many 
ages  before  the  earliest  record  of  them  by  the 
writers  of  antiquity. 

The  earliest  notice  of  the  manufacture  of 
cheese  in  the  Bible  is  where  Job,  complaining 
of  life,  says :  "  Hast  Thou  not  poured  me  out 
as  milk,  and  curdled  me  as  cheese  V"  David  was 
sent  to  his  brethern  in  the  Valley  of  Elah  with 
this  injunction :  "  Carry  these  ten  cheeses  to  the 
Captain  of  their  thousands  and  look  how  thy 
brethern  fare." 

Homer,  the  grand  old  poet  of  the  Greeks, 
makes  record  of  the  dairy  in  the  following  lines, 
written  nearly  a  thousand  years  before  the 
Christain  era : 

"  Around  the  grot  we  gaze,  and  all  in  view 
In  order  ranged,  our  admiration  drew, 
The   bending   shelves  with   loaves   of  cheeses 

pressed, 
The  folded  flocks,  each  seperate  from  the  rest." 

Julius  Caesar  says  the  principal  food  of  the 
Germans  in  his  day  consisted  of  milk,  cheese 
and  flesh,  and  he  gives  a  similar  account  of  the 
Gauls  or  ancient  inhabitants  of  France. 

Allusion  to  butter  is  several  times  made  in 
the  Old  Testament,  but  the  earliest  is  in  Gene- 
sis, in  Abraham's  time.  When  he  had  washed 
the  feet  of  the  angel  visitors,  and  given  them  a 
little  cold  water,  it  is  recorded :  "  He  took  but- 
ter and  milk  and  the  calf  which  he  had  dressed, 
and  set  it  before  them,  and  he  stood  by  them 
under  the  tree  and  they  did  eat." 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  products  of  the 
dairy— milk,  butter  and  cheese— have  a  geneol- 
ogy  that  goes  far  back  of  the  "  Doomsday  Book." 
They  have  a  history  forty  centuries  old,  and 
this  it  would  seem  must  be  old  enough  for  the 
most  fastidious  lover  of  "  old  cheese." 

But  what  must  be  considered  remarkable  in 
this  connection  is  that  these  products  have  been 
regarded  in  all  ages  of  the  world  as  luxuries,  or 
among  the  highest  types  of  human  food.  Abra- 
ham set  before  his  angel  visitors  "  milk  and  but. 
ter,  and  they  did  eat."  Now  with  all  due  re- 
spect for  the  wonderful  progress  of  this  cen- 
tury, and  the  skill  of  our  "gilt-edged  butter 
makers,"  can  we  not  reasonably  infer  that  the 
butter  of  Abraham's  time,  fit  to  be  set  before  the 
angels,  could  have  been  anything  less  than  ex- 
cellent, and  doubtless  it  was  far  superior  to 
much  of  the  butter  made  at  this  day,  which  I 
am  sorry  to  say  is  hardly  fit  to  set  before  even 
the  wicked. 


But  I  have  proposed  to  speak  to  you  upon 
"American  Dairying,"  which  at  best  as  a  spe- 
cialty can  hardly  be  considered  a  century  old. 
Dairying  as  a  specialty  was  practiced  in  Eng- 
land and  Holland,  and  in  other  parts  of  Europe 
previous  to  the  16th  century,  and  the  early 
emigrants  to  this  country  must  have  brought 
with  them  the  art  of  butter  and  cheese  making. 
But  previous  to  the  year  1800  there  seems  to 
have  been  no  considerable  number  of  diaries 
grouped  together  and  prosecuting  the  business 
as  a  specialty  in  any  part  of  America.  Most 
farmers  in  those  days  kept  a  stock  of  horned 
cattle— animals  raised  for  beef,  for  working 
oxen,  with  cows  for  breeding  and  for  producing 
milk,  butter  and  cheese  to  supply  home  wants. 

The  farming  of  those  days  was  of  a  mixed 
character,  nearly  every  want  of  the  family  be- 
ing supplied  from  the  farm. 

In  the  fall  of  1800  a  very  exciting  election  was 
had  for  President  of  the  United  States,  the  can- 
didates being  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Jefferson,  and 
to  this  circumstance  are  we  indebted  to  a  bit  of 
Dairy  history.  The  first  really  notable  affair 
concerning  the  dairy  that  had  as  yet  occurred  in 
the  New  World.  In  those  days  one  of  the  great 
pulpit  politicians  of  New  England  was  Elder 
John  Lei  and. 

Politics  ran  high,  and  the  contest  between  Fed- 
eralists and  Democrats  was  almost  as  bitter  as 
that  between  Republicans  and  Democrats  to-day. 
Puritan  pulpits  launched  their  thunderbolts 
against  Jefferson,  the  great  Democratic  leader, 
charging  him  with  being  an  infidel  of  the  French 
revolutionary  school.  In  the  little  town  of 
Cheshire,  nestling  among  the  middle  hills  of 
Massachusetts,  says  Mr.  Burrett  (to  whose  his- 
tory of  the  affair  I  am  indebted),  "a  counter 
voice  of  great  power  was  lifted  up  from  its  pul- 
pit against  the  flood  of  obloquy  and  denunciation 
that  rolled  and  roared  against  Jefferson  and 
Democracy.  This  was  Elder  John  Leland,  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  preachers  produced 
by  those  stirring  times,  and  he  preached  such 
stirring  Jeffersonian  Democracy  to  the  people  of 
Cheshire,  that  for  generations  they  never  voted 
anything  but  a  "straight  Democratic  ticket." 

Democracy  prevailed  and  Jefferson  was  elected 
President,  and  no  man  had  done  more  to  bring 
about  this  result  than  Elder  John  Leland  of  the 
little  hill  town  of  Cheshire,  Massachusetts.  Be- 
sides influencing  thousands  ot  outsiders  in  the 
same  direction,  he  had  brought  up  his  whole 
congregation  and  parish  to  vote  for  the  father  of 
American  Democracy.  Democracy  in  those  days 
I  fancy,  was  different  from  the  Reform  Democ- 
racy of  to-day,  but  be  it  as  it  may. 

He  now  resolved  to  set  the  seal  of  Cheshire  to 
the  election  in  a  way  to  make  the  nation  know 
there  was  such  a  town  in  the  republic  of  Israel. 

He  had  only  to  propose  the  method  to  com- 
mand the  unanimous  approbation  and  indorse- 
ment of  his  people,  and  he  did  propose  it  to  a 
full  congregation  on  the  Sabbath.  With  a  few 
earnest  words  he  invited  every  man  and  woman 
who  owned  a  cow  to  bring  every  quart  of  milk 
given  on  a  certain  day,  or  all  the  curd  it  would 
make,  to  a  great  cider  mill  belonging  to  their 
townsman,  Capt.  John  Brown,  who  was  the  first 
man  to  detect  and  denounce  the  treachery  of 
Benedict  Arnold  in  the  Revolution.  No  Federal 
cow  was  allowed  to  contribute  a  drop  of  milk  to 
the  offering  lest  it  should  leaven  the  whole  lump 
with  a  distasteful  savor.  It  was  the  most  glo- 
rious day  the  sun  ever  shone  upon  before  or 
since  in  Cheshire.  Its  brightest  beams  seemed 
to  bless  the  day's  work.  With  their  best  Sunday 
clothes  under  their  white  tow  frocks  came  the 
men  and  boys  of  the  town,  down  from  the  hills, 
up  from  the  valleys,  with  their  contributions  to 
the  great  offering,  in  pails  and  tuba.  Mothers, 
wives  and  all  the  rosy  maidens  of  these  rural 
homes  came  in  their  white  aprons  and  best  cai- 


57 


ico  dresses  to  the  sound  of  the  church  bell,  and 
that  called  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  to  the 
great  co-operative  fabrication.  In  farm  wagons, 
in  Sundny  wagons,  in  carts  and  all  kinds  of  four 
wheeled  and  two  wheeled  vehicles  they  wended 
their  way  to  the  general  rendezvous,  all  exhuber- 
ant  with  the  spirit  of  the  occasion.  It  was  not 
only  a  threat  glad  gathering  of  all  the  people  of 
the  town,  but  of  half  of  their  yoked  oxen  and 
family  horses,  and  these  stepped  off  iu  the  march 
with  the  animation  of  a  holiday. 

An  enormous  hoop  had  been  prepared,  placed 
upon  the  bed  of  the  cider  press,  which  bad  been 
well  purified  for  the  work,  and  covered  with  a 
false  bottom  of  the  purest  material.  The  hoop 
resting  on  this  formed  a  huge  cheese  box  or  seg- 
ment of  a  cistern,  and  was  placed  directly  under 
three  powerful  wooden  screws  which  turned  up 
the  massive  head  block  above. 

A  committee  of  arrangements  met  the  con- 
tributors as  they  arrived  and  conducted  them  to 
the  great,  white,  shallow  vat  into  which  they 
poured  their  contingents  of  curd,  from  the  large 
tubs  of  well-to-do  dairymen  to  the  six  quart 
pail  of  the  poor  owner  of  a  single  cow.  When  the 
last  contribution  was  given  in,  a  select  commit- 
tee of  the  town  addressed  themselves  to  the  nice 
and  delicate  task  of  mixing  and  flavoring  and 
tinting  such  a  mass  of  curd  as  was  never  brought 
to  press  before.  But  the  farmers'  wives  of  Ches- 
shire  were  equal  to  the  duty  and  responsibility 
of  the  office. 

All  was  now  ready  for  the  coup  de  grace  of  the 
operation.  The  signal  was  given ;  the  ponderous 
screws  twisted  themselves  out  from  the  huge 
beam  over  head  with  even  thread  and  line.  And 
now  the  whey  ran  around  the  circular  channels 
of  the  board  bed  in  little  foamy  bubbling  rivers. 
The  machinery  worked  to  a  charm.  The  stout 
young  farmers  manned  the  long  levers  ;  the 
acrews  creaked  and  posts  and  beams  responded 
to  the  pressure  with  a  sound  between  a  puff  and 
groan.  It  was  a  complete  success.  The  young 
men  in  their  shirt  sleeves,  and  with  flushed  and 
moistened  faces,  rested  at  the  levers,  for  they  had 
moved  them  to  the  last  inch  of  their  force.  All 
the  congregation  with  the  children  in  the  middle 
stood  in  a  compact  circle  around  this  great 
press.  The  Juue  sun  britrhtened  their  faces 
with  its  most  genial  beams  and  brought  into  the 
happiest  illumination  the  thoughts  that  beat  in 
their  hearts,  then  Elder  Leland,  standing  up  on 
a  block  of  wood,  and  with  his  deep-lined  face 
overlooking  the  whole  assembly,  spread  out  his 
great  toil  hardened  hands,  and  looking  stead- 
fastly with  open  eyes  heavenward,  as  if  to  see 
the  pathway  of  his  thanksgiving  to  God  and  the 
return  blessing  on  its  descent,  offered  up  the 
gladness  and  gratitude  of  his  flock  for  the  one 
earnest  mind  that  had  inspired  them  to  that 
day's  deed,  and  invoked  divine  favor  upon  it  and 
the  national  leader  for  whom  it  was  designed. 

When  the  cheese  was  well  cured  and  ready  for 
use  it  weighed  sixteen  hundred  pounds;  but  as  it 
could  not  be  safely  conveyed  on  wheels  to  its 
destination,  it  waited  until  mid-winter,  then  it 
was  placed  on  a  sleigh  and  no  one  but  Elder  John 
Leland  could  be  entrusted  with  the  precious 
load.  He  took  the  reins,  driving  all  the  way  from 
Cheshire  to  Washington,  full  five  hundred  miles, 
receiving  testimonials  and  varying  acclamations 
in  the  towns  through  which  he  passed.  Arriving 
in  Washington,  Mr.  Jefferson  received  him  in 
state,  the  big  cheese  was  duly  presented  and 
speeches  made,  and  the  President's  steward 
passed  a  long,  glittering  knife  through  the 
cheese,  taking  out  a  deep  golden  wedge,  which 
was  served  with  bread  and  ale  in  presence  of  the 
heads  of  Departments,  Foreign  Ministers  and 
many  other  eminent  personages.  It  was  highly 
complimented  for  its  richness,  flavor  and  color, 
and  was  the  most  perfect  specimen  cheese  ever 
exhibited  at  the  White  House.  Then  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son sent  a  great  golden  wedge  of  the  cheese  back 


to  the  makers,  which  they  ate  with  double  relish 
as  the  President's  gift  to  them  as  well  as  theirs 
to  him. 

THE  OLDEST  DAIRY  DISTRICT  IN  AMERICA. 

Few  years  previous  to  this  memorable  event  a 
sturdy  young  farmer  from  New  England,  cross- 
ed the  Hudson  and  slowly  made  his  way  up  the 
valley  of  the  Mohawk,  which  has  been  denomina- 
ted the  "  Gateway  of  the  Continent."  He  was 
the  first  who  began  cheese  dairying  in  Herkimer 
county.  He  came  into  the  country  on  foot.  He 
was  rich  in  health  and  strength.  He  had  eight 
silver  shillings  in  his  pocket,  an  axe  on  his  shoul- 
der and  two  stout  arms  to  swing  it. 

Except  along  the  Mohawk  nearly  the  whole 
country  was  then  a  dense  forest.  Brant,  the  fa- 
mous Mohawk  chief,  and  his  bloody  warriors  had 
been  gone  several  years,  but  traces  of  their  pill- 
age and  murders  were  fresh  among  the  early 
settlers  in  the  valley  and  along  the  river.  The 
old  Dutch  heroine,  Mrs.  Shell,  was  then  living 
near  Fort  Dayton.  She  was  a  noted  character 
during  the  Revolution.  Her  husband  being- 
called  out  to  fight  the  Tories  and  Indians,  she 
took  her  infant  to  the  field  and  helped  her  eldest 
son,  a  lad.  to  hoe  the  corn,  with  a  musket  strap- 
ped to  her  shoulder. 

The  savages  in  more  than  one  encounter  with 
the  Shell  family  had  learned  to  fear  and  respect 
Mrs.  ShHl.  Her  aim  was  steady  and  her  bullets 
death.  When  the  Indians  beseiged  her  log  house 
she  fought  side  by  side  with  her  husband  all  day 
and  all  night,  battering  the  guns  with  an  axe  as 
they  thrust  them  through  between  the  logs,  and 
filing  upon  the  assailants  until  help  came  from 
the  fort.  The  house  stood  on  the  black  slate  hills 
rising  near  the  Mohawk  to  the  north,  overlook- 
ing a  long  line  of  charming  scenery.  Beyond 
was  a  valley  and  a  still  higher  elevation.  Here 
the  sturdy  young  New  Engiander  picked  his 
land.  His  strong  arms  felled  the  timber  over 
many  acres.  He  built  his  log  house  and  estab- 
lished his  herd  upon  the  soil. 

From  such  beginning  sprang  the  mighty  giant 
that  is  now  stalking  over  the  Continent,  dotting 
the  land  with  countless  herds. 

From  1800  to  1826  cheese  dairying  had  become 
pretty  general  in  Herkimer  county,  but  the 
herds  were  mostly  small.  So  early  as  1812  the 
largest  herds,  numbering  about  forty  cows  each, 
were  those  belonging  to  Wm.  Ferris,  Samuel 
Carpenter,  Nathan  Salisbury  and  Isaac  Smith, 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  county,  and  they 
were  regarded  as  extraordinary  for  their  size. 

About  this  time  (1826)  the  business  began  to 
be  planted  in  the  adjoining  counties  in  single 
dairies,  here  and  there,  and  generally  by  persons 
emigrating  from  Herkimer  county.  The  imple- 
ments and  appurtenances  of  the  dairy  were  then 
very  rude.  The  milking  was  done  in  open  yards, 
and  milking  barns  were  unknown.  The  milk 
was  curdled  in  tubs — the  curd  cut  with  a  long 
wooden  knife  or  broken  with  the  hands  and 
pressed  in  log  presses  standing  exposed  to  the 
weather.  The  cheeses  were  thin  and  small. 
They  were  held  through  the  season  and  in  the 
fall  when  ready  for  market  they  were  packed  in 
rough  casks  made  for  the  purpose,  and  shipped 
to  different  localities  for  home  consumption. 
The  leading  buyers  previous  to  1826,  were  Wm. 
Ferris  and  Robert  Nesbith,  from  Massachusetts. 
Nesbith  was  a  Quaker  and  had  a  long  face.  Fer- 
ris, his  partner,  was  of  a  gay  and  festive  turn, 
and  the  fact  of  their  partnership  was  not  known 
to  the  dairymen.  Their  manner  of  conducting 
trade  was  unique  and  very  satisfactory  to  them- 
selves at  least. 

First,  Nesbith,  the  Quaker  went  his  rounds 
visiting  every  dairy.  Putting  on  a  sad  lugubri- 
ous cheek,  he  knew  how  to  impress  dairymen  as 
to  the  inferiority  of  their  goods,  and  to  raise  se- 
rious doubt  in  their  minds  as  to  whether  cheese 
could  be  marketed  at  anything  like  living  rates. 


58 


Nesbith  spoke  of  the  difficulties  of  trade  and 
the  pressure  of  the  money  market.  He  was  un- 
decided and  not  exactly  prepared  to  purchase, 
though  sometimes  in  exceptionable  cases  he 
was  prevailed  upon  to  buy  small  lots  at  low  fig- 
ures. By  the  time  he  got  through  his  visitation 
the  dairymen  were  feeling  somewhat  discour- 
aged and  were  ardently  hoping  to  see  some  other 
buyer.  Then  the  festive  Ferris  made  his  appear- 
ance, and  his  off-hand  rushing  way  of  doing  bu- 
siness, carried  the  conviction  that  he  was  a  reck- 
less operator.  His  prices  were  considerably 
higher  than  those  offered  by  Nesbith,  and  the 
dairymen  fell  into  the  trap  and  sold  their  goods, 
wondering  if  the  buyer  was  thoroughly  posted 
in  regard  to  the  markets. 

In  1826  Henry  Burrell.  of  Herkimer  county, 
then  a  young  man  full  of  enterprise  and  cour- 
age, having  learned  something  of  the  markets 
and  the  game  played  by  Nesbith  and  Ferris, 
"stole  a  march"  on  these  skillful  operators, 
buying  a  large  share  of  the  cheese  at  a  price 
above  that  fiarured  by  the  Massachusetts  firm. 
He  afterwards  bpoame  the  chief  denier  in  dairy 
goods  in  central  New  York,  often  purchasing  the 
entire  product  of  cheese  made  in  the  United 
States.  He  was  the  first,  to  open  a  cheese  trade 
with  England,  commencing  shipping  as  a  ven- 
ture, about  1880  to  1832  at  the  suggestion  of  the 
late  Erastus  Corning  of  Albany.  The  first  ship- 
ment was  about  10,000  pounds. 

He  was  the  first  also  to  send  cheese  to  Phila- 
delphia, shipping  to  B.  &  B.  Cooper  in  1828  and  to 
Jonathan  Palmer  in  1830  and  1833.  Mr.  Burrell 
is  still  in  the  trade,  though  nearly  eighty  years 
of  age,  and  has  shipped  cheese  abroad  every 
year  during  the  past  fifty  years,  his  shipments 
the  present  summer  (1876)  being  about  1,000 
boxes  a  week.  He  is  among  the  few  American 
dealers  who  have  amassed  a  colossal  fortune  in 
the  trade,  and  by  his  strict  integrity  and  honest 
dealinif  has  ever  retained  the  confidence  of 
dairymen. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  cheese  dairying  in 
other  states,  I  find  the  emigration  of  Herkimer 
county  dairymen  often  gave  these  new  localities 
the  first  impetus  to  this  branch  of  industry— 
thus  leading  the  way  more  easily  to  the  intro- 
duction of  the  factory  system. 

Crossing  the  line  into  Canada,  we  find  Harvey 
Farrington,  an  old  Herkimer  county  dairyman, 
in  1864-5,  leading  the  way  by  building  the  first 
factories  in  the  Province  of  Ontario,  and  teach- 
ing the  art  of  manufacture  to  our  Canadian 
neighbors.  Previous  to  this,  the  Canadians 
bought  largely  from  the  states.  Now  they  pro- 
duce from  thirty  to  forty  millions  of  pounds  an- 
nually, and  are  our  sharpest  competitors  in  the 
export  trade. 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  EXPORT  TRADE. 

In  about  1848-9,  or  about  eighteen  years  from 
the  first  shipment  of  cheese  to  Great  Britain,  our 
exports  had  increased  to  15.000,000  pounds.  The 
whole  production  of  cheese  that  year  in  the 
United  States  was  not  far  from  100,000,000 
pounds,  about  43,000,000  of  which  was  received 
at  the  tide  water*  of  the  Hudson.  British  ship- 
pers that  year  (1848-9)  were  enthusiastic  ;  draw- 
ing upon  us  for  what  was  then  considered  an 
extraordinary  quantity,  viz:  15,000.000  pounds, 
but  they  met  with  severe  losses,  which  caused  a 
more  moderate  demand  the  following  year,  and 
prices  tell  about  one  cent  per  pound,  varying 
for  fair  to  strictly  prime,  from  5c  to  6&C  for  Ohio 
cheese,  and  6c  to  6%  tor  New  York  State.  The 
amount  exported  that  year  (1849-50)  was  12,000,000 
pounds,  the  supply  tothe  tide  waters  of  the  Hud- 
son being  about  42,000,000  pounds.  Five-sixths 
of  the  exports  were  bought  and  shipped  by  the 
middle  of  January,  and  the  remainder,  say  2,000,- 
000  pounds,  was  .bought  by  two  or  three  parties 
at  5?£c  to  6&C,  which  was  generally  thought  by 
the  trade  to  be  too  dear. 


In  1851  the  whole  consumption  of  foreign 
cheese  in  England,  including  that  from  America, 
had  Increased  to  48.000,000  pounds,  an  increase 
amounting  to  about  250  per  cent,  since  1831. 

From  1848  to  1858  the  exports  of  American 
cheese  to  England  were  not  increased  and  they 
fell  back  in  1858  to  5,000,000  pounds ;  but  about 
this  time  American  butter  began  be  be  exported 
in  considerable  quantities.  In  1859  there  were 
about  two  and  one-half  million  pounds  of  butter 
and  9,000,000  pounds  of  cheese  exported.  Dur- 
ing the  following  year  the  butter  export  was  11,- 
000,000  pounds.  There  was  no  increase  in  the 
make  of  American  cheese  during  the  ten  years 
from  1850  to  I860,  the  census  reports  giving  the 
amount  in  1850  at  105,000,000  against  103,000,000  in 
1860. 

The  quality  of  the  great  mass  of  butter  and 
cheese  during  this  decade  was  undoubtedly  in- 
ferior as,  a  rule. 

The  principles  underlying  the  great  art  of 
manufacturing  these  products  were  very  im- 
perfectly understood.  In  1860  Samuel  Perry  of 
New  York  attempted  to  control  the  entire  export 
product  of  American  dairies.  He  sent  his  agents 
early  in  the  season,  throughout  the  whole  dairy 
section  of  New  York  and  Ohio,  then  the  only 
two  states  from  which  cheese  was  exported,  and 
they  contracted  for  him  the  bulk  of  the  farm 
dairies  at  an  average  price  of  from  8c  to  lOc  per 
pound. 

A  large  share  of  the  cheese  in  those  days  was 
bought  on  credit,  a  small  sum  being  paid  during 
summer,  but  the  final  settlement  and  paympnt 
was  made  on  the  first  of  January,  Mr.  Perry 
by  offering  a  penny  or  so  per  pound,  more  than 
other  dealers  believed  tne  market  would  war- 
rant, was  enabled  to  secure  almost  the  entire 
make  of  the  season. 

A  great  disaster  as  is  well  known  followed 
this  purchase.  Much  of  the  cheese  was  badly 
made  and  it  rotted  on  his  hands  and  was 
thrown  into  the  docks.  Sales,  could  not  be 
made  in  England  to  cover  cost.  The  approach- 
ing war  caused  troublous  times  and  cutoff  our 
Southern  trade.  Financial  difficulties  at  the 
opening  of  1861  were  frequent  and  pressing  and 
the  great  merchants  went  to  the  wall  leaving 
thousands  of  dairymen  unpaid.  The  lesson  was 
a  severe  one  to  all  concerned,  but,  it  was  use- 
ful in  this,— that  ever  after  dairymen  have 
been  cautious  in  selling  on  long  credits,  while 
no  one  dealer,  single  handed,  has  since  that 
time  attempted  to  control  a  product  which  from 
its  increased  magnitude  is  beyond  the  grasp 
of  our  means  and  resources. 

Although  Mr.  Jesse  Williams  of  Rome,  N.  Y., 
had  conceived  the  idea  of  the  tactory  system, 
and  put  it  in  operation  in  1857,  it  did  not  begiu 
to  attract  attention  until  about  1860.  Up  to 
this  date  (1860)  only  23  factories  had  been  erect- 
ed, but  as  the  factory  cheese  was  generally  bet- 
ter made,  and  more  uniform  in  shape,  texture 
and  quality,  and  as  less  labor  resulted  in  mak- 
ing as  well  as  in  buying1— (  because  cheese  was 
then  bought  on  the  shelves  on  personal  inspec- 
tion,) the  system  began  to  be  regarded  with 
favor  by  both  dealers  and  farmers. 

Mr.  Williams  learned  the  art  of  cheese  dairy- 
ing in  Herkimer.  He  was  an  original  thinker, 
and  to  him  are  we  indebted  more  than  to  any 
other,  for  the  great  progressive  step  which 
places  American  dairying  to-day  in  the  front 
rank  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The 
whole  frame  work  of  the  American  system 
sprung  from  his  brain  in  one  harmonious  whole 
and  although,  he  was  fruitful  in  the  invention 
of  implements  and  appliances  adapted  to  his 
work,  he  took  out  no  patents,  but  presented  tne 
result  of  his  labors  as  a  gratuity  to  the  world. 
The  inestimable  benefits  that  have  come,  and 
>etto  come  from  the  original  labors  of  Mr, 
Williams  can  scarcely  be  estimated,  It  put 
American  dairying  upon  a  footing  by  which  it 


could  measure  arms  with  any  other  branch  of 
Agriculture,  and  in  the  great  state  of  New 
York  it  towers  above  all  other  agricultural 
interests  combined:  for  if  we  add  all  the  ad- 
juncts of  the  dairy  together  ;  the  value  of  pork 
made  from  whey  and  sour  milk,  the  calves 
raised  and  beef  and  milk  sold,  we  can  hardly 
get  the  annual  product  from  the  dairy  farms  of 
New  York,  below  an  hundred  millions  of  dol- 
lars. 

In  1870  the  grain  raised  in  the  State,  was  in 
round  numbers  as  follows:  Wheat,  12,000.000 
bushels  ;  rye,  2.000.000;  corn,  16,000,000  ;  oats,  35,- 
000,000;  barley,  7,000,000  and  buckwheat,  3,000,000 
bushels.  The  wool  clip  of  the  state,  that  year, 
was  10,500.000  pounds. 

Now  in  1870  there  were  nearly  136,000,000  (135,- 
175,919)  gallons  of  milk  sold  in  the  state,  which 
at  5  cents  per  quart,  amounts  to  over  37,000,000 
dollars.  The  butter  made  that  year  in  the  state 
was,  according  to  the  United  States  census,  107,- 
147,526  pounds,  and  this  was  worth  that  year 
more  than  30,000  000  dollars. 

Going  back  to  1840,  we  ttnct^the  value  of  the 
dairy  products  of  New  York,  butter,  cheese,  and 
milk,  was  estimated  (according  to  the  United 
States  Census,)  at  only  10,496. OUO  dollars,  and  in 
all  the  States  at  about  34,000,000  dollars.  Mark 
the  enormous  increase  in  30  years,  rising  from 
$10,000,000  to  $IUO,000,000. 

About  the  year  1862-3, 1Alanson  Slaughter  of 
Orange  Co.,  N.  ¥".,  conceived  the  idea  of  adapt- 
ing the  associated  system  to  butter  making. 
He  arranged  his  factory  with  pools  of  flowing 
spring  water  for  reducing  the  temperature  of 
the  milk  which  he  set  iti  deep  and  narrow  cans. 
This  was  the  first  butter  factory  that  had  been 
built,  on  the  continent,  or  indeed  in  the  world. 
His  plans  were  original  and  novel,  and  as  the 
choicest  butter  was  made  under  his  system,  it 
was  the  commencement  of  the  most  important 
improvement  in  butter  making,  hitherto  known 
in  America. 

The  system  has  been  oarriad  into  Sweden  and 
Denmark  and  other  parts  of  Europe  and  wherev- 
er planted,  whether  in  the  old  or  in  the  new  world 
has  been  the  means  of  raising  the  standard  of 
butter  and  promoting  its  consumption  in  a  mar- 
vellous degree. 

In  1862  the  butter  product  of  the  United  States 
was  aoout  500,080,000  pounds,  of  which  we  export- 
ed about  30,000,000.  To-day  our  annual  product 
is  estimated  at  from  700,000,000  to  1,000,000.000,  of 
pounds,  and  we  export  scarcely  anything.  Butter 
factories  have  been  carried  into  many  states,  and 
although  the  plan  of  setting  milk  has  been 
varied  in  regard  to  deep  or  shallow  vessels,  it 
would  have  been  impossible  to  have  developed 
this  interest  to  its  present  vast  proportions  if  the 
associated  system  had  not  been  inaugurated  and 
applied  to  this  branch  of  the  dairy. 

It  promoted  an  inquiry  and  desire  for  better 
things,  and  consumers  as  they  get  a  taste  of  the 
"golden  appetizer,"  with  its  fine  grainy  texture 
and  rosy  aroma,  become  fond  of  it  beyond  meas- 
ure, and  they  stimulate  manufacturers  to  put 
forth  their  best  efforts  for  perfection,  by  pay- 
ing extraordinary  prices  for  a  "  fancy  article." 

In  1863-4  the  associated  dairy  system  had  be- 
come aa  established  fact.  Somehow,  the  im- 
pression became  general  among  the  farming 
community  that  the  dairy  was  reaping  enormous 
profits. 

An  intense  interest  prevailed,  not  only  in  New 
York,  but  in  Ohio,  Vermont,  and  other  states, 
to  obtain  knowledge  on  the  subject,  and  this  led 
to  the  inauguration  of  the  "  New  York  State 
Cheese  Manufacturers'  Association."  A  meeting 
was  called  at  Rome,  Jan.  4, 1864,  and  the  atten- 
dance was  BO  large  that  it  filled  the  largest  hall 
in  that  city,  delegates  being  present  from  sev- 
eral states. 

No  such  enthusiastic  gathering  of  those  in- 
terested in  agriculture  had  ever  been  held  in 


this  country,  and  people  went  away  from  the 
meeting  with  the  liveliest  anticipation  of  amass- 
ing fortunes  from  the  dairy.  That  year  210  new 
factories  were  erected  in  the  state  of  New  York 
alone,  and  the  system  was  carried  into  other 
states.  Subsequently,  the  association  was 
merged  into  the  "American  Dairymen's  Associa- 
tion," and  state  associations  began  to  spring  up 
in  the  different  states.  I  need  not  speak  of  the 
success  of  these  associations.  Thousands  of 
people  flock  to  them  year  after  year.  They  have 
created  a  dairy  literature  which,  from  its  wide 
dissemination  has  had  a  vast  influence  in  edu- 
catinsr  the  masses  in  this  department  of  farming. 

Contrasting  the  flood  of  light  which  now  illu- 
mines the  path  of  the  dairymen  with  the  meagre 
knowledge  he  possessed  twenty  years  ago,  the 
slough  from  which  we  have  emeregd  seems  in- 
finitely deep  and  dark.  By  means  of  our  asso- 
ciated system  and  our  dairy  conventions,  the 
American  dairy  industry  now  leads  the  world, 
and  Europe  begins  to  copy  from  us.  England 
has  inaugurated  our  factory  system,  and  now  is 
about  to  resort  to  our  plan  of  holding  conven- 
tions, in  order  to  move  her  people  from  the 
lethargy  and  stagnation  into  which  they  and 
her  dairy  interests  have  fallen. 

At  the  late  meeting  of  the  Royal  agricultural 
Society  at  Birmingham,  the  "  British  Dairy- 
men's Association"  was  organized,  and  the  plan 
of  holding  conventions  similar  to  ours  will  be 
adopted.  But  this  is  not  all.  It  has  been  pro- 
posed to  hold  twenty-four  annually  at  some 
large  centre— as  Birmingham,  for  instance.  A 
"National  and  International  Cheese  and  Butter 
Show  "  for  prizes,  and  combined  with  this  a  con- 
gress at  which  papers  are  to  be  read  and  discus- 
sions had  upon  them.  "A  National  and  Interr 
national  Congress"  upon  the  subject  of  dairying 
in  England  means  something  more  than  a  rambl- 
ing discussion,  for  it  will  call  tog-ether  many  of 
the  distinguished  scientists  of  Europe  who  have 
made  long  and  carefully-conducted  investiga- 
tions concerning  the  different  constituents  of 
milk  and  their  relation  to  the  product  manufac- 
tured. 

Thus,  you  will  see,  that  what  may  be  called  a 
purely  American  movement  or  idea  is  being 
planted  in  England,  and  must  inaugurate  pro- 
gress there  as  it  has  done  here. 

INVESTIGATORS  AND  THEIR  CLAIMS. 

In  what  I  have  said,  I  do  not  wish  to  attribute 
all  the  honor  of  our  present  position  to  Ameri- 
can investigation  or  American  originality.  We 
have  no  scientist  who  can  claim  any  range  of 
investigation  concerning  milk  and  its  products 
that  will  at  all  compare  with  those  made  by  Dr. 
Voeleker  of  London.  The  •*  Germ  Theory  "  be- 
Jonars  to  Hallur  and  Pasteur,  and  nothing  new  in 
this  direction  can  be  claimed  by  Americans.  It 
is  true  we  are  indebted  to  Prof.  Caldwell,  of 
Cornell,  for  first  expounding  this  theory  to 
American  dairymen.  The  weight  of  his  author- 
ity as  a  believer  in  it  has  had  considerable  influ- 
ence with  dairymen  toward  the  acceptance  of 
Pasteur's  theory  and  applying  it  in  some  of  the 
problems  concerning  milk. 

Microscopical  investigations  to  bring  out  re- 
sults worthy  of  credit,  require  the  eye  and  the 
mind  of  the  trained  scientist,  great  patience, 
long  experience,  and  a  peculiar  aptitude  for  the 
work.  It  is  one  thing  to  look  through  a  micro- 
scope, but  quite  another  thing  to  be  able  to  des- 
ignate correctly  what  one  sees.  Hence  the  ob- 
servation of  the  mere  tyro  must  be  taken  with 
due  caution. 

Our  best  cheese  as  now  made,  is  in  all  its  es- 
sential principles  the  same  as  that  originated  in 
Somersetshire,  and  which  has  been  in  practice 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years  at  the  loot  of  the 
Mendiss  Hills.  All  theories  in  vogue  from  time 
to  time  diverging  from  their  principles  have 
ultimately  proved  failures. 


You  will  say  that,  we  have  been  improving  the 
character  of  American  cheese  for  the  last  ten 
years  or  more,  or  that  it  never  suited  the  Ens:- 
lish  market  so  well  as  now.  I  trrant  it,  but  it  is 
because  we  have  come  nearer  and  nearer  the 
true  chedder  method  which  was  first  made 
known  to  our  dairymen  at  their  convention  in 
1865.  I  do  not  now  refer  to  appliances  for  abridg- 
ing labor— then  of  course  an  original  American 
invention,  but  I  have  yet  to  be  shown  a  simrle 
original  scientific  principle  that  has  been  discov- 
ered and  adopted  by  which  our  cheese  manufac- 
ture has  been  improved  above  the  old  chedder 
method. 

The  lesson  which  our  dairymen  are  learning 
to-day  is  that,  there  is  a  difference  between 
speculative  theories  and  sound  practice.  We 
have  learned  the  reason  for  many  dairy  opera- 
tions and  these  have  been  so  well  expounded 
from  time  to  time  that  our  cheese  makers  have 
become  better  grounded  in  the  science  of  the 
dairy,  and  are  more  intelligent  than  the  great 
mass  of  practical  dairymen  in  Europe. 

But  there  are  some  things,  concerning  the 
care  and  preservation  of  milk  that  may  be 
placed  to  our  credit.  The  cooling  and  aeration 
of  milk  for  its  better  flavor  and  condition  is  ours. 
Mr.  Foster,  of  Oueida,  N.  Y.,  was  the  first  to 
discover  that  the  odor  of  putrifying  animal 
matter  like  that  of  a  dead  horse  may  taint  the 
milk  in  the  bag  by  being  breathed  by  the  cow 
while  at  pasture.  The  microscopical  investiga- 
tions of  Prof.  Law,  of  Cornell,  were  the  first  to 
show  how  vegetable  organisms  may  be  trans- 
mitted to  the  milk  from  the  water  which 
oows  drink  to  slake  thirst.  Mr.  Truman, 
of  Chenango  county,  was  the  first  to  dis- 
cover that  other  fat  than  that  obtained 
from  the  milk  may  be  substituted  for  it 
in  cheese.  The  late  Gail  Borden,  of  White  Plains, 
N.  Y.,  was  the  first  to  show  how  milk  may  be 
successfully  eliminated  of  its  water  or  condens- 
ed. He  was  an  original  thinker  and  investiga- 
tor, whose  name  next  to  Jesse  Williams  will  go 
down  to  posterity  as  the  inventor  ol  the  grand- 
est improvements  in  connection  with  the  dairy 
known  in  any  age  of  the  world.  The  preserva- 
tion of  milk  in  all  its  integrity  for  Ions?  periods, 
before  Mr.  Borden's  time,  had  been  attempted, 
but  without  success,  and  eminent  chemists  and 
scientists  had  pronounced  the  condensing  of 
milk  with  its  cream  unseparated  an  impossibil- 
ity. Mr.  Borden  persevered  inventing  elabor- 
ate and  complicated  machinery  entirely  original 
for  the  purpose,  and  at  last  his  efforts  were 
crowned  with  success.  Thousands  of  our  sol- 
diers during  the  Rebellion— thousand*,  upon 
shipboard— in  cities  and  upon  the  plains,  have 
called  down  blessings  upon  this  man  tor  the  ben- 
efaction ot  securing  to  them  the  luxury  of  pure 
milk— milk  which  could  not  otherwise  be  had. 
If  the  Jives  of  children  saved  in  our  cities  by  the 
use  of  Borden's  condensed  milk  be  taken  into 
account,  we  shall  scarcely  be  able  to  estimate 
the  value  of  his  labors.  His  inventions  and  pro- 
cesses have  been  carried  into  Europe,  and  he  is 
recognized  in  history  to-day  as  one  who  has 
dune  an  important  servico  for  humanity. 

Mr.  Slaughter,  of  Orange  County,  was  the 
first  to  adopt  the  associated  system  of  butter 
making,  and  to  apply  the  deep  setting  of  milk  in 
coid  water  for  getting  the  cream.  This  was  an 
important  step  toward  progress.  The  Swedes 
and  Danes  were  the  first  among  European  na- 
tions to  c»py  the  American  idea  of  butter  fac- 
tories and  the  8"tting  of  milk  in  cokl  water  ;  but 
Sweden  with  her  scientists  under  Royal  patron- 
age was  not  content  simply  to  copy,  and  to  Swe- 
den belongs  the  credit  of  first  demonstrating 
that  cream  will  rise  rapidly  and  perfectly  when 
the  milk  is  reduced  to  near  the  freezing  point  iu 
ice  water. 

This  principle  has  been  a  surprise  to  the  butter 


dairymen  of  America,  and  is  another  step  in  the 
progress  of  butter  dairying. 

Mr.  Harrlin.  of  Kentucky,  is  entitled  to  credit 
for  a  modification  of  this  system  in  which 
the  air  is  cooled  in  refrigerator  boxes  which  are 
used  for  setting  the  milk,  and  he  claims  as  an 
improvement  the  covering  of  the  milk  and  the 
exclusion  of  the  air  while  the  cream  is  rising. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  but  the  cold  theory  is 
the  true  one  for  making  butter.  It  arrests  de- 
composition from  the  start,  and  the  fine  quality 
of  butter  made  by  t  his  plan  is  proof  of  its  merit. 

The  heating  of  milk  and  then  cooling  it,  to  ob- 
tain the  cream  together  with  the  manufacture 
of  the  skimmed  milk  into  cheese  is  of  ancient 
origin.  It  bad  been  practiced  in  Devonshire, 
England,  for  more  than  a  century,  and  hence  no 
claim  can  be  made  of  its  being  an  American 
idea.  The  English  experimentors  years  ago 
pronounced  it  inferior  to  other  methods  then  in 
common  use  both  as  to  quantity  and  quality  of 
product. 

In  closing  the  claims  of  American  inventors,  I 
must  add  two  more  names  to  the  list,  that  of  Dr. 
Sturtevant,  of  Massachusetts,  who  has  made 
some  original  investigations  in  regard  to  the 
milk  globules  of  cows  of  different  breeds,  while 
Dr.  H.  A.  Mott,  of  New  York  City,  has  recently 
made  some  very  interesting  discoveries  in  com- 
paring the  milk  of  different  races.  His  analyses 
show  that  the  milk  of  the  Black  race  contains 
more  milk  solids  than  that  of  the  Caucassian, 
particularly  in  milk,  sugar,  fat  and  inorganic 
salts.  The  same  rule  also  applies  to  Brunettes, 
and  it  becomes  an  interesting  question  whether 
the  color  of  animals  is  any  indication  as  to  the 
quality  of  milk  yielded. 

CONCLUSION. 

In  conclusion  a  word  may  be  offered  in  regard 
to  the  present  status  of  American  dairying.  Com- 
missioner Wells  in  his  celebrated  report  upon  the 
"  Industry,  Trade  and  Commerce  of  the  United 
States"  for  1869,  puts  the  value  of  the  products 
from  the  dairy  in  the  United  States  at  $400,000,- 
000  per  annum.  If  that  be  correct  for  1869,  the 
annual  product  from  dairy  farms  to-day  must  be 
at  least.  $600,000,000.  The  New  York  Butter  and 
Cheese  Exchange  estimates  the  annual  butter 
crop  at  1,400.000,000  pounds,  which  at  30  cents  per 
pou  <d  would  alone  amount  to  $430,000,000.  In 
my  opinion  the  Butter  and  Cheese  Exchange  has 
estimated  the  butter  product  too  high,  but  it 
must  not  be  far  from  700,000,000  pounds  per  an- 
num. But  when  I  say  that  the  actual  product 
from  the  dairy  farms  of  the  United  States 
amounts  to  $600,000,000,  it  may  not  strike  you 
with  its  full  force.  This  amount  will  be  better 
appreciated  perhaps  by  a  comparison.  In  1860 
the  total  industrial  product  arising  from  agri- 
culture in  the  United  States  was  estimated  at 
about  $1,800,000,000;  so  that  the  dairy  farms  of  the 
United  States  to-day  produce  a  sum  equal  to 
one-third  of  the  value  of  the  entire  production 
of  agriculture  in  all  its  branches  in  1860.  It  must 
be  evident  therefore  that  the  dairy  is  second  in 
importance  to  no  special  agricultural  industry 
of  the  nation. 

The  associated  dairy  system  now  stretches  in 
an  almost  unbroken  line  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific,  commencing  in  Maine  it  sweeps  over 
New  England,  then  throughout  the  Middle  States 
it  is  the  most  important  industry.  Its  foot  is 
firmly  planted  in  the  West  and  Northwest. 
Crossing  the  Mississippi,  it  has  pushed  its  way 
into  Kansas,  Colorado  and  Nebraska ;  even  at 
North  Platte,  on  the  very  verge  of  the  rainless 
region,  I  last  year  found  a  prosperous  cheese 
factorv  and  large  herds,  owned  by  the  accom- 
plished widow  of  the  late  Post  Master  General 
Randall,  associated  with  Hon.  Mr.  Webster  and 
his  son.  Along  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains 
and  in  the  canyons  and  parks  of  that  wouderiul 
region,  1  have  been  surprised  to  find  numerous 


61 


herds  and  large  dairies.  In  Lake  Valley,  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Tahoe-one  of  the  loveliest  spots 
to  be  found  in  the  Sierras — there  are  no  less  thau 
thirteen  dairies  of  150  cows  each,  on  a  tract  eight 
miles  wide  by  ttt'teen  long.  Here  butter  is  made 
which  commands  a  ready  sale  in  Carson  and  Vir- 
ginia City  at  50  cents  and  upward  per  pound. 
The  Mormons  are  developing  the  business  at 
Utah,  and  already  they  have  factories  and  co- 
operative dairies.  Then  in  California,  as  you 
know,  all  along  the  coast  range,  dairies  have 
been  planted.  Even  so  long  ago  as  1870,  I  found 
here  the  largest  dairy  farm  I  had  ever  seen— the 
dairy  ranch  of  the  Shatter  Brothers,  embracing 
75,000  acres,  and  having  over  400  miles  of  fenc- 
ing. There  was  upon  it  3,000  cows  in  milk,  and  I 
rode  more  than  TOO  miles  on  private  roads  as 
smooth  and  as  free  from  ruts  as  any  in  the  old 
dairy  districts  of  New  York.  This  ranch  has 
since  that  time  been  divided  into  three  25,000 
acre  dairy  farms,  each  of  which  in  turn  is  por- 
tioned out  into  dairies  numbering  150  cows  and 
where  the  choicest  butter  is  made  for  the  Cali- 
fornia market.  The  climate  here  is  admirably 
adapted  to  butter  making,  the  temperature, 
winter  aud  summer,  never  varying  much  from 
60  degrees  Fahrenheit. 

The  annual  cheese  product  of  the  United  States 
now  averages  a  little  under  300.000.000  pounds,  of 
which  we  export  nearly  100,000,000  pounds— 92,- 
000,950  pounds  in  1875.  The  receipts  in  New  York 
during  1875  were  2,322.015  boxes,  against  2,046,575 
boxes  in  1874  and  2,007,633  boxes  in  1873.  In  round 
numbers  the  receipts  in  New  York  during  1875 
were  about  130,000,000  pounds.  The  exports  of 
butter  from  New  York  in  1875  were  only  4,226,976 
pounds. 

MARKETING. 

One  great  feature  belonging  to  the  dairy,  and 
which  gives  dairymen  an  immense  advantage 
over  other  farmers  is,  an  organized  system  of 
marketing.  The  system  was  commenced  at  Lit- 
tle Falls,  N.  Y.,  in  1860-1— buyers  and  sellers 
meeting  on  certain  days  of  the  week  in  the  open 
street  to  make  transactions;  for  the  business 
was  then  transacted  in  the  open  air  by  the  side 
of  the  wagons.  Attempts  have  been  made  by 
certain  parties  to  falsity  the  truth  of  history  by 
representing  that  the  tirst  efforts  to  establish 
"  sale  days,'*  or  a  country  cheese  market  was 
made  at  Utica  in  1870.  There  is  scarcely  a  dairy- 
man in  Central  New  York  but  is  familiar  with 
the  fact  that  Little  Falls  had  a  regular  weekly 
dairy  market  10  years  prior  to  1871,  when  millions 
of  pounds  of  cheese  were  sold  annually,  and  that 
there  were  no  regular  sales  days  at  Utica  until 
1871.  On  some  market  days  at  Little  Falls  pre- 
vious to  1864  several  hundred  farmers  have  been 
in  the  streets  near  the  railway  depot,  each  with 
bis  wagon  loaded  with  cheese,  boxed  and  marked 
with  his  name,  while  some  twenty  or  more  buy- 
ers were  scattered  among  them  and  passing 
from  wagon  to  wagon — some  from  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  Baltimore  and  other  cities 
with  an  occasional  shipper  from  England  could 
be  seen  examining  boxing,  tasting,  smelling  and 
making  bids  lor  the  loads.  In  1864,  the  first 
weekly  reports  of  the  Little  Falls  market,  then 
and  now  the  largest  interior  dairy  market  in  the 
world,  began  to  be  made.  Previous  to  1864  farm- 
ers relied  on  city  quotations,  which  were  some- 
times thought  to  be  in  the  merchant's  favor. 
But  it  was  not  until  the  early  part  of  1871  that  a 
Dairy  Board  of  Trade  was  organized,  though  the 
project  was  agitated  in  1869  by  residents  of  Lit- 
tle Falls.  Here,  as  in  the  origin  of  the  dairy 
movement,  Herkimer  county  took  the  initiative, 
establishing  a  Da  ryman's  Board  of  Trade,  under 
the  general  name  of  the  "New  York  State  Dairy- 
men's Association  and  Board  of  Trade."  Soon 
after  publishing  an.i  sending  out  circulars  giving 
the  plan  of  the  organization  and  the  rules  by 
which  it  was  to  be  governed,  the  dairymen  of 


Oneida  took  copy  and  also  established  a  "Dairy- 
men's Board  of  Trade"  at  Utica.  The  plan 
spread  to  other  sections  and  now  many  dairy 
centres  in  New  York  and  in  other  states  have 
their  Dairy  Boards  of  Trade  at  which  merchants 
and  sellers  meet  on  regular  market  days  for  the 
transaction  of  business  in  dairy  goods.  The 
telegraph  is  here  brought  into  requisition,  and 
sellers  go  upon  the  market  knowing  something 
of  the  demand  and  the  price  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic.  At  the  interior  markets  competition 
often  runs  high,  and  merchants  somptimes  com- 
plain that  margins  are  narrow,  and  money  not 
so  easily  made  as  when  the  goods  were  bought 
at  the  factory  on  city  quotations.  Be  this  as  it 
may,  the  dairymen  now  have  a  sort  of  commer- 
cial education.  They  study  the  markets,  home 
and  foreign,  and  they  judge  when  it  is  best  to 
realize  on  their  goods. 

SHRINKAGE  IN  VALUES   FOR  1876. 

The  shrinkage  in  values  on  nearly  all  kinds  of 
property  during  1876  has  been  very  considerable. 
Real  estate  has  depreciated  from  25  to  30  per 
cent.  The  fall  in  cotton  goods  and  some  other 
manufactures  has  been  very  great.  The  value 
of  nearly  all  our  agricultural  products  are  below 
the  range  of  1874,  and  it  is  not  surprising  under 
the  pressure  of  the  times,  that  dairy  goods 
should  have  been  comparatively  low.  But  even 
under  the  darkest  phase  of  the  times  the  outlook 
of  dairying  is  by  no  means  discouraging.  Indeed, 
there  is  no  class  of  farmers  better  off  to-day 
than  the  dairymen.  They  have  sold  their  goods 
from  month  to  month  and  from  week  to  week 
for  cash,  and  their  goods  have  found  a  ready 
market  without  pushing,  while  other  products 
have  been  dull  and  slow  of  sale  even  at  greatly 
reduced  rates.  The  European  demand  has  been 
fully  equal  to  our  surplus,  and  exports  keep 
values  upon  a  gold  basis.  It  is  true  prices  have 
been  low,  but  not  nearly  so  low  as  they  were 
years  ago,  when  dairymen  found  it  not  difficult 
to  amass  fortunes  in  the  business. 

The  one  hopeful  sign  for  our  increased  produc- 
tion is.  that  English  production  is  decreasing 
while  the  increase  of  population  in  our  cities 
and  towns  calls  more  and  more  for  additional 
supplies  of  fresh  milk  and  an  increased  quantity 
of  butter  and  cheese  for  home  consumption. 
That  we  are  not  over-producing  is  proved  by  the 
free  disposal  of  the  entire  products  of  the  dairy 
from  year  to  year.  Very  likely  it  the  make  were 
less,  prices  would  advance,  but  the  values  real- 
ized on  account  of  scarcity  press  heavily  upon 
the  masses,  who  for  the  most  part  find  it  hard  to 
make  the  ends  meet  from  year  to  year.  It  is 
better  that  the  people  have  cheap  food  with 
moderate  gains  to  the  producer,  than  that  they 
should  suffer  tor  want  of  food,  that  the  producer 
may  grow  suddenly  rich. 

Many  dairymen  of  late  years  have  neglected 
the  economies  of  dairying,  and  it  is  the  waste 
and  extravagance  that  pinches  harder  than  the 
low  prices.  He  who  can  cut  off  waste  and  be 
content  with  moderate  gains,  will  see  a  silver 
lining  to  the  cloud,  if  indeed  there  be  a  cloud 
that  dims  the  future  in  the  far  distant  horizon. 
The  merchants  of  the  dairy  at  home  and  abroad 
are  men  who  do  honor  to  trade,  and  among  them 
will  be  found  those  who  would  sooner  lop  off  an 
arm  than  stoop  to  a  mean  action.  The  commer- 
cial integrity  of  the  dairy  stands  unsullied,  and 
this  is  an  element  which  helps  to  place  Ameri- 
can dairying  upon  a  substantial  footing. 


SOUTHERN  AGRICULTURE. 


Address  delivered  by  Col.  Thou.  Clairborne,  of  Tennes- 
see, before  the  National  Agricultural  Coagrttl  at 
Philadelphia,  September  12,  1876. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen  of  the  Agricultu- 
ral Congress;  In  appearing-  before  you,  I  am 
painfully  conscious  that  I  subject  myself  to  your 
criticism ;  that  I  am  inadequate  to  the  task  of 
satisfying1  your  just  expectations.  During1  two 
or  three  intervals  snatched  from  actual  field  la- 
bor I  have  crudely  prepared  this  address.  I  am 
not  university-bred.  I  am  provincial,  and  do  not 
affect  a  contest  of  this  sort  with  men  of  literary 
and  scientific  training  ;  and  since  I  am  here  as  a 
modest  helper,  let  me  propitiate  your  fair  favor. 

At  this  moment,  and,  as  it  appears  to  me,  un- 
der the  happiest  auspices,  you  have  assembled 
for  patriotic  work,  in  this  venerable  city,  famed 
in  arts,  scit  nee,  literature,  and  other,  the  bright- 
est, phases  of  human  progress,  when  the  eyes 
of  a  whole  people  are  turned  to  this  point,  and 
many  thousands  are  daily  imbibing  new  lessons 
in  viewing  this  mighty  exhibition  of  the  wond- 
rous products  of  the  talents,  skill,  industry  and 
perseverance  of  our  fellow-countrymen  and 
foreign  nationalities,  you,  gentlemen,  with 
great  propriety,  occupy  a  conspicuous  place 
amidst  this  grand  assemblage  of  American 
citizens;  for  upon  the  labors  of  those  whem 
3  ou  represent  rests  the  whole  of  this  magnifi- 
cent display ;  the  broad  shoulders  of  the  hus- 
bandmau  are  the  pediment  of  this  splendid 
pyramid  of  American  achievement. 

1  received  with  surprise  the  invitation  to  ad- 
drets  you  to  day  upon  the  subject  of  Southern 
agriculture,  which  your  worthy  president  ten- 
dt-red  to  me  in  June,  and  accepted  it  reluctant- 
ly, at  the  request  of  one  who  should  this  day  be 
here,  occupying  this  stand— I  menu  Col.  J.  B. 
Kulebrew,  commissioner  of  agriculture,  etc.,  of 
the  State  of  Tennessee,  a  working  man,  "take 
him  for  all  in  all"  the  like  of  whom  is  hard  to 
find  anywhere  ;  who,  in  advocating  the  claims 
of  his  state  to  the  intelligent  consideration  of 
capitalists  for  investments  in  mines  of  coal  or 
iron;  in  manufactures,  whether  of  iron  or 
wood,  cotton  or  wool ;  in  setting  forth  in  fresh, 
vigorous  and  truthful  descriptions  her  vast  re- 
sources for  happy  agricultural  homesteads  ;  and 
also  for  the  able  instructions  in  the  art  of  agri- 
culture, which  t<y  pen  and  xongue  he  has  lavish- 
ly imparted  to  his  fellow-citizens,  deserves,  as 
lie  has  received,  their  respect,  their  applause, 
i  he 1 1- confidence.  This  is  the  man  who  could 
ana  would  have  charmed  you  with  his  happy 
discourse  on  such  a  subject.  He  has  substitut- 
ed me  froni  friendly  partiality,  and  deprived 
you,  by  his  absence,  of  a  real  enjoyment. 

The  art  of  agriculture  has  been  treated  of  so 
often,  and  praised  so  well,  for  its  intrinsic 
worth  to  the  children  of  men  by  the  orators  and 
philosophers  of  all  ages  of  civilization,  by  so 
many  and  so  happily  qualified  men  of  our  coun- 
try, from  John  Adams,  Thomas  Jefferson,  James 
Madison,  Judge  Peters  and  Coi.  Taylor,  "of 
Carolina,"  all  of  whom  were  the  earnest  advo- 
cates of  agricultural  science,  witn  many  other, 
tue  most  reputable,  names, of  this  country,  all 
along  down  to  our  own  times  of  eager  inquiry 
and  pursuit,  when  able  and  enthusiastic  men, 

with  the  vast  additional  aids  of  new  discoveries 
in  mechanical  and  chemical  science,  are  seeking 


to  wrest  from  nature  her  most  hidden  mysteries, 
a  plain  farmer,  like  me,  stands  abashed  and  con- 
fused, and  hardly  knows  where  to  begin,  or  on 
what  to  lay  hold — a  conscious  trespasser. 

I  do  not  expect  to  advance  any  new  ideas  ;  I 
shall  not  consume  your  time  in  praising  the  art; 
I  shall  proceed  to  talk  about  Southern  agricul- 
ture and  its  outlook;  and  to  do  this  intelligently 
requires  a  reference  to  the  geograpical  and  po- 
litical relations  of  the  South  to  the  whole 
Union  of  these  States.  May  that  Union  be  con- 
secrated to  liberty  forever.  Our  country,  in  its 
general  aspects  and  conditions,  is  essentially 
agricultural,  while  many  parts  admit  more 
readily  of  employments  in  mining  and  manu- 
facturing: yet,  upon  the  whole,  nature  has 
stamped  the  agricultural  feature  as  the  domi- 
nant. I  need  not  enlarge  upon  the  fact  that 
agriculture  is  the  basis  of  all  prosperity  among 
the  civilized  people;  nobody  questions  it;  the 
great  Webster  has  eloquently  said  that  it  is  the 
"  noblest  and  the  grandest  of  the  symbolic  pil- 
lars that  support  the  government."  Here,  then, 
in  the  South,  is  the  great  field  of  American  ag- 
riculture ;  its  real  importance  cannot  be  over- 
rated. What  shall  be  the  future  of  this  South- 
land? 

There,  spread  out  before  you,  through  12 
parallels  of  latitude  and  many  more  of  longi- 
tude, lies  the  fair  South  country ;  from  the 
Chesapenketo  the  Cape  Sable  and  the  mouth  of 
the  Rio  Grande,  twelve  states,  one  of  which — 
Texas— equals  in  its  fertile  areas  two  Pennsyl- 
vanias,  all  chiefly  best  adapted  to  the  planting 
of  cotton  and  tobacco ;  on  the  coast  rice  and 
sugar;  in  other  parts  corn,  wheat  and  the 
other  cereals,  sweet  and  Irish  potatoes,  hemp, 
thix,  sorghum,  the  raising  of  horses,  cattle, 
sheep,  hogs,  and  all  the  other  agricultural,  pas- 
toral, pomoiogicai  nnd  other  infinite  vegetable 
productions,  of  course  varying  in  character  and 
excellence  according  to  their  special  habitat; 
the  Avhole  expanse  of  mountain  and  valley,  un- 
dulating plain  and  "green"  savannahs,  capable 
of  infinite  production,  and  destined  to  be  the 
theatre  of  an  agricultural  development  that 
will  exact  the  homage  of  the  world  ;  for  here 
is  best  distributed  the  great  essentials,  sunlight, 
warmth,  and  moisture  over  continuously  vast 
areas  of  extraordinary  fertility.  I  do  not  think 
it  worth  the  Avhile  to  estimate  this  area  in 
square  miles— to  state  minute  features  ;  it  will 
suit  my  purpose  and  lessen  your  fatigue  to 
hasten,  touching  the  most  salient  features. 

The  present  is  not  the  proper  normal  con- 
dition of  the  South;  you  will,  each  of  you, 
readily  assign  the  reasons  therefor,  as  they  may 
occur  to  you.  Unless  you  come  from,  and  have 
lived  and  struggled  among  the  people  of  the 
South,  you  will  not  be  able  to  descern  truly,  and 
it  would  require  a  deal  or  patience  to  acquire 
by  recital,  the  facts  necessary  to  an  exact  under- 
standing of  our  political  relation.  The  South 
needs  white  men  to  settle  up  waste  places,  to 
contribute  to  her  development,  and  all  men  of 
patriotic  feeling  and  sound  reflection  know 
that,  to  insure  success,  when  immigration  is  in- 
vited, security  must  be  extended. 

The  generous  will  not  include  a  whole  people 
in  the  errors  of  a  fe-v,  and  may  find,  in  the  ig- 
norance of  educational  prejudices  of  e\  en  these 
a  great  deal  to  palliate  ;  for  the  basely  wicked, 
it  would  be  a  harder  matter  to  find  an  apologist 
at  home  than  abroad ;  and  are  not  these  to  be 
found,  despite  of  example  and  experience  in 
every  land?  We  have  had  our  disorders. 

The  Avar  wrought  a  prodigious  waste  of  men 
and  material  wealth  of  the  South:  the  slave 
property  was  scarcely  less  than  $1,200.000,000, 
aud  four  years  loss  and  consumption  of  crops 
and  other  material,  will  cover  four  or  five  bil- 
lions. The  chaos  that  greeted  the  vision  of  the 
soldiers  returning  to  their  homes  might  well 
have  appalled  them;  that  prospect  is  now  greatly 
altered,  by  their  labors,  for  the  better.  I  shall 


not  dwell  on  a  dreary  recital  of  "  woes  un- 
numbered;  that  is  not  ray  purpose.  You  will, 
however,  tolerate  a  passing  remark  upon  the 
disasterous  troubles  political  adventurers 
wrought  in  our  midst:  distrust,  debts,  municip- 
al and  state,  and  wholesale  peculation,  indica- 
ted their  presence.  "The  evil  they  did  will  live 
after  them."  I  affirm  that  the  delays  to  the 
complete  and  happy  restoration  of  fraternity 
and  social  peace  and  order  may  be  attributed 
solely,  in  the  first  instance,  to  those  to  whom  [ 
have  alluded,  and  this  I  do  readily,  because  I 
know  the  desire  of  the  hearts  of  the  people  of 
the  South  to  be  fora  perpetual  peace,  and  a 
firmer  union  of  the  States,  as  necessary  to  the 
happiness  of  their  children,  their  riches  and 
their  prosperity.  We  believe  that  we  have 
passed  through  the  worst,  and  that  the  merciful 
Father,  out  of  His  abundant  goodness,  will 
soon  restore  us  to  our  constitution H!  liberties 
and  equalities.  Therefore  we  invite  immigrants 
to  come  and  settle  in  our  fair  South,  and  offer 
to  all  good  men  our  friendship  aud  neighborly 
regard. 

The  negro  is  a  problem  to  be  solved.  His 
shackles  are  thrown  by  and  rusty ;  he  will  not 
be  enslaved  by  the  white  man  any  more.  A  mar- 
itime people  brought  the  African  to  us.  We  of 
the  South  were  never  a  maritime  people.  We  in- 
herited the  evil ;  and  the  good  and  wipe  do  not 
regret  its  being  crushed  out.  But  he  is  incorpo- 
rated into  your  political  constitution  as  a  citizen. 
I  think  I  know  him  well,  as  a  slave,  as  a  freed- 
man,  as  a  citizen.  The  older  and  most  trustwor- 
thy as  laborers  are  daily  decreasing.  Their  places 
are  supplied  from  a  thriftless  and  idle  youth 
that  manifest  the  greed  of  appetite  ;  seek  to  es- 
cape honest  rural  labor,  crowd  into  miserable 
tenements  in  city,  town  or  village,  and  there  find 
the  lowest  degradation.  Some  evince  a  strong 
desire  to  attend  the  schools,  and  their  best  repre- 
sentatives point  the  way.  Common  schools  and 
colleges  have  sprung  up  with  the  aid  and  en- 
couragement of  the  whites,  notably  so  in  my 
state.  The  policy  that  matures  a  true  sentiment 
of  justice  in  the  public  conscience  towards  the 
negro  will  find  its  truest  advocates  in  the  South. 
Who  can  know  better  than  the  business  men  on 
the  farms  and  plantations  how  necessary  his 
labors  are  to  the  production  of  cur  crops?  His 
faults  are  both  moral  and  physical.  Emanci- 
pated, elevated  to  be  a  citizen,  voter,  political 
vagrants  have  practiced  upon  his  egregious  van- 
ity to  secure  personal  ends.  Acting  under  their 
stimulus,  and  the  unintelligible  nonsense  of 
most  of  their  orators  and  preachers,  who  bear 
themselves  with  comic  solemnity,  they  see 
visions  of  glory  and  the  angels,  esteem  them- 
selves chosen  of  God,  and  bide  patiently  the  good 
time  a- coming,  when  they  shall  put  under  their 
feet  the  white  race  ;  nor  do  they  except  from 
this  pleasant  category  their  white  affiliators.  A 
patient  philosopher  might  endure  all  this  comedy 
if,  at  the  same  time,  his  judicious  gaze  was  not 
fixed  upon  the  lurking  spectre  of  a  possible  trag- 
edy. To  secure  his  liberty,  his  earnings,  his  re- 
pose, is  the  honorable  work  of  all  Christians. 
To  magnify  his  importance  above  that  of  the 
humble  or  ignorant  white  man,  is  to  abjure  our 
blood;  to  guarantee  higher  immunities  and  priv- 
ileges to  him  than  to  honorable  and  meritorious 
white  men,  is  to  violate,  in  the  gravest  manner, 
that  Jaw  of  God  which  says,  "  that  them  shalt  not 
do  to  another  that  you  would  not  he  should  do 
to  you."  The  problem  remains  the  same.  I. can 
only  see  the  solution  of  it  in  a  mighty  population 
of  the  white  race,  each  head  of  a  family  striving 
upon  his  own  homestead  as  a  bread-winner  and  a 
nation  builder.  The  lands  are  ours,  and  we  in- 
vite their  occupation  by  the  white  man.  The 
feebly  idle  and  inglorious  man,  or  race,  goes 
down  in  the  struggle  always.  It  can  hardly  be 
doubted  that  slavery  kept  out  of  the  South  the 


hardiest,  the  thriftiest,  the  most  energetic  of  the 
crowds  of  home-seekers  that  plunged  into  the 
wilderness  of  our  country,  in  pursuit,  of  their  in- 
dividual gain.  While  New  England  and  the  older 
settlements  of  America,  with  the  emigrant  tides, 
were  pouring  to  the  West  and  Northwest,  my 
own  state  had  been,  for  forty  years,  poxirinsr  out 
from  her  prolific  hive  her  thousands  of  poor  men 
and  ambitious  young  professionals,*  to  populate 
the  upspringinar  states.  West  and  South.  The 
great  landed  proprietors  were  crowding  them 
out  from  sheer  force  of  circumstances ;  f  r^e 
labor  would  not  compete  with  slave  labor.  Pass- 
ing by  the  South,  it  found  its  enterprise  best  re- 
paid where  there  was  no  slavery.  This  accounts 
for  the  growth  of  the  great  Northwest  and  West 
in  spite  of  the  climate,  and  gives  the  answer  to 
the  question,  if  asked,  "Why,  if  your  South-land 
is  so  excellent,  is  there  so  much  ot  it  vacant?" 
In  their  easy-going  way,  our  people  indifferently 
regarded  emigration  or  immigration. 

But  what  of  the  present?  I  answer,  the  gates 
are  thrown  wide  open.  As  prejudice  subsides 
and  the  memories  that  civil  wars  engender  die 
out,  the  eyes  of  the  home-seeker  will  view  with 
pleasure  and  his  hands  will  lay  hold  with  vigor 
the  astonishing  riches  of  this  glorious  South- 
land. 

The  eye,  coursing  the  entire  sweep  of  the 
South-country,  from  the  Chesapeake  to  the  Rio 
Grande,  along  the  Atlantic  and  Gulf  coast  plain, 
rests  upon  a  vast  area  of  tertiary  and  past  terti- 
ary formation  that  indicates  the  character  of  the 
soil.  This  is  divided  by  the  low  plain  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river,  which  possesses  an  inexhaustible 
fertility;  on  the  west  of  this  the  lands  slope  up- 
ward to  meet  the  great  plains  which  extend  to 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  Here  is  to  be  found  the 
largest  capacity  of  production  peculiar  to  such 
geographical  features.  As  the  Appalachian  range 
is  reached,  other  and  older  formatians  are  en- 
countered, possessing  the  most  valuable  charac- 
teristics, in  lands  of  fertility,  in  woods,  in  min- 
erals. An  immense  border  of  pine  forests  line 
rho  Atlantic  aud  Gulf  coasts  as  far  as  the  Sabine 
river,  furnishing  lumber,  pitch,  tar,  turpentine 
for  naval  stores  and  the  other  innumerable  uses 
•'»f  mankind.  The  interior  is  well  wogded  east  of 
the  Mississippi  and  for  some  distance  beyond, 
with  a  great  variety  of  useful  and  beautiful 
trees.  The  live  ©ak,  of  Florida  and  along  the 
gulf  coasts  to  Indiauola,  is  invaluable  for  ship 
timber. 

In  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida, 
Alabama,  Mississsippi,  Louisana,  Texas,  Arkan- 
sas and  West  Tennessee,  lie  those  magnificent 
areas  of  land  which  yield  the  indispensable  staple 
that  gives  employment  to  so  many  hands,  feeds 
so  many  mouths,  and  fills  the  sails  of  so  many 
ships,  without  which  we  should  lack  our  com- 
monest necessaries.  From  300  to  600  pounds  of 
lint  may  (accidents  guarded)  be  counted  upon 
as  the  produce  of  a  single  acre.  In  certain  spec- 
ial localities  the  sea  island  staple,  of  higher  ex- 
cellence than  the  other  fibre,  is  grown.  The 
culture  of  the  cotton  plant  costs  more  exertion 
but  Jess  skill  than  the  production  of  corn  ;  it  is 
perhaps  more  difficult  to  save  the  lint  at  picking 
time,  in  its  highest  perfection  of  lustre  and 
beauty,  than  to  cultivate  it.  Its  careless  culti- 
vation has  ruined  many  plantations.  It  will  not 
suffer  the  presence  of  grass,  and  the  hoe  and  scrap- 
er must  be  kept  going  vigorously  to  insure  its 
growth  and  crop.  Our  people  have  learned  a 
great  deal  since  1865.  The  tendency  in  the  minds 
of  cotton  planters  is  to  diversity  their  crops. 
The  probability  is  that  they  will  in  future  plant 
less  area,  and  probably  pick  and  sell  more  cot- 
ton. 

I  am,  however,  only  a  witness  of  the  failures 
of  Middle  Tennessee  cotton  planting.  The  same 

*411,000  emigrant  s  to  219.000  immigrants. 


64 


energy  expended  on  stock,  the  grasses  and  cere- 
als, would  have  paid  better,  while  improving  the 
farms.  For  five  years  ending  September  1st, 
1876.  receipts  of  Middle  Tennessee,  and  North 
Alabama  cotton  at  Nashville  exhibit  282  259  bales. 

Rice  and  sugar  are  the  staples  of  the  coasts, 
and  these  productions  must  inevitably  increase 
in  importance  every  year. 

Tobacco  is  a  staple,  and  fan  be  grown  almost 
anywhere,  according  to  variety  ;  those  of  Mary- 
land and  Virginia  are  renowned  ;  so  are  those  of 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  ;  and  for  fifty  years 
those  of  Tennessee  have  been  noted  for  excel- 
lence. The  area  of  plant  ing  is  steadily  on  the  in- 
crease in  Tennessee,  and  all  that  is  needed  is 
proper  encouragement,  to  stimulate  a  larger 
production  than  any  state  in  the  Union.  It  is 
not  destructive  to  land  like  cotton  and  corn,  and 
yields  a  larger  remuneration  to  labor  bestowed 
on  less  area  of  cultivation  to  the  hand,  and  at 
the  same  time  admits  of  an  easy  rotation  with 
the  cerals  and  grasses.  Judgment  of,  and  nicety 
in  handling  the  crop  constitute  the  chief  features 
in  its  productive  value.  Its  busiest  season  is  in 
August  and  September,  and  this  affords  ample 
time  for  raising  abundant  supplies  for  the  farm. 
As  an  article  of  commerce  it  is  perhaps  not  in- 
ferior to  that  of  any  other  named  ;  it  enters  into 
the  consumption  of  all  people,  nearly  a  billion 
and  a  quarter  of  tons  being  annually  consumed. 
More  than  1,000,000  persons  are  engaged  in  its 
cultivation  and  preparation  for  market,  and  the 
states  of  the  world  gather  a  very  large  share  of 
theirrevenue  from  it  alone.  In  the  period  from  1850 
to  1870  the  production  of  tobacco  in  the  Western 
States  had,  notwithstanding  the  civil  war,  increas- 
ed 62,982. 686  pounds.  Tennessee  had  added  15,000,- 
000  pounds  to  her  production.  The  estimates 
for  1874  and  1875  exhibit  for  eiarht  states,  (of 
which  four  are  Northern  and  Western)  113,000 
hogsheads.  The  market  at  Nashville  last  year 
was  very  active,  and  the  outlook  very  hopeful 
for  this  season,  but  extraordinary  causes  com- 
bined to  largely  diminish  the  expectations  of 
the  trade.  The  government  with  the  greatest 
ease  can  lay  its  heavy  hand  upon  this  crop,  and 
in  fact  derives  a  large  revenue  from  its  inequit- 
able imposts,  realizing  in  1875  $37,303.461.  The 
receipts  of  tobacco  leaf  at  Nashville  for  the  com- 
mercial year  just  ended,  show  an  excess  of  4,000 
hogsheads  over  any  former  year;  they  were 
9V116  hogsheads.  At  Clarksville  they  reached 
nearly  15,000  hogsheads. 

Wheat  is  largely  grown  in  Texas.  Her  north- 
ern counties  are  capable  of  thirty  bushels  to  the 
acre  under  the  common  treatment  of  the  farmer. 
Under  higher  care  forty  bushels  may  be  expect- 
ed. Along  the  northern  belt  of  the  Southern 
States,  from  ten  to  twenty-five  bushels  are  to  be 
expected,  according  to  rotation  and  care  in  the 
preparation  of  the  soil.  Virginia  and  Tennes- 
see wheats  have  no  superiors,  producing  the 
best  and  most  beautiful  flour,  and  from  its  qual- 
ity is  best  adapted  for  shipment  to  foreign  ports. 
In  my  state  the  best  yield  is  after  clover.  I  be- 
lieve in  the  drill,  but  there  is  diversity  of  opin- 
ions among  our  best  farmers  on  broadcasting 
and  drilling.  Fultz,  Tappahannock  and  Amber 
are  the  favorite  seed  ;  the  former  is  in  great 
favor  at  present.  Merchants  and  millers  in 
Nashville  handle  250,000  barrels  of  flour. 

The  Tennessee,  Arkansas  and  Mississippi  bot- 
toms will  yield  of  corn  100  bushels  and  more  to 
the  acre.  All  our  Tennessee  bottom  lands  will 
produce,  under  good  handling,  fifty  to  seventy- 
five  bushels ;  our  uplands  thirty  to  forty  bush- 
els, in  favorable  seasons.  We  pay  more  atten- 
tion to  wheat  and  corn  than  heretofore,  and  I 
may  add  that  there  is  a  new  farming  impulse 
felt  throughout  the  state  by  the  whole  body  of 
farmers.  Our  production  is  largely  increased. 
As  the  Appalachian  range  is  approached,  the 
geological  features  have  changed,  and  oats,  bar- 
ley, rye,  broom  corn  and  sorghum  produce  fair 


crops  anywhere.  Oats  are  liable  to  rust,  and  I 
do  not  consider  them  worth  raising,  though 
others  may  differ.  A  red,  rust-proof  oat  is  ad- 
vertised as  very  valuable.  1  tried  it,  and  last 
winter's  freezes  severely  injured  it. 

Tennessee  is  the  land  for  grasses  and  clovers. 
All  along  the  slopes,  in  the  coves,  in  the  valleys 
of  the  Appalachian  range  and  its  offshoots,  they 
flourish  in  excellence.  Blne-smiss  gives  a  name 
to  the  favorite  region  of  Kentucky,  and  it  is  al- 
most as  fine  in  Middle  Tennessee,  where  indeed 
you  find  the  brooklets  and  creeks  are  numerous, 
and  flowing  above  ground,  with  a  milder  climate 
than  Central  Kentucky.  Timothy  grows  finely, 
but  is  invaded  by  the  weeds  if  neglected.  Or- 
chard g ra-s  grows  more  in  favor  every  year  with 
us,  and  grows  anywhere,  almost.  The  indispen- 
sable clovers  gain  new  admirers  every  year,  and 
are,  after  all,  our  best  and  cheapest  renovators 
and  fertilizers.  The  alfalfa  will  grow  in  West 
Tennessee  well,  and  further  South.  I  have  seen 
it  luxuriating  at  El  Paso,  4,000  feet  above  sea 
level. 

The  grasses  native  to  the  Cumberland  pla- 
teau, during  the  summer  and  fall  fatten  a  great 
many  cattle  and  sheep.  In  Texas  the  mesquit 
and  other  nutritious  grasses,  fatten,  for  their 
long  drives  North,  tens  of  thousands  of  cattle ; 
and  other  stock  live  almost  entirely  upon  them, 
sheep  especially.  With  the  addition  of  pure 
bloods  now  taking  place  ia  cattle  and  sheep,  we 
may  look  for  startling  results  in  Texas. 

The  sweet  potato  is  an  enormous  producer 
everywhere,  and  is  an  invaluable  product. 

Irish  potatoes  of  the  early  sorts,  from  the 
coasts  up  to  the  mountains,  yield  fairly,  and 
bring  good  prices  in  the  Northern  markets, 
poaching  severely,  I  suspect,  upon  the  old  mo- 
nopoly of  Northern  gardners ;  and  this  Is  true 
of  nearly  all  the  vegetables.  A  late  red  Irish 
potato  is  planted  with  us  from  June  to  July,  and 
in  very  favorable  seasons  yield  400  bushels.  Fifty 
thousand  barrels  of  Irish  potatoes  were  handled 
in  Nashville  last  year. 

All  the  garden  vegetables  flourish— turnips, 
cabbage,  carrots,  parsnips,  salsify  and  okra,  and 
are  remunerative  crops  ;  but  I  cannot  give  the 
precise  yield  per  acre. 

Pumpkins  are  large,  prolific,  and  very  valu- 
able aids  as  stock  food.  The  melons  are  as  fine 
from  Tennessee  to  the  Gulf  as  can  be  produced 
anywhere,  both  as  to  size  and  sweetness.  Pea- 
nuts are  a  large  and  profitable  crop. 

Along  the  mountain  slopes  from  Virginia  to 
West  Tennessee,  in  West  Tennessee  and  Arkan- 
sas, apples  do  finely,  the  Cumberland  plateau 
excelling  in  this  respect,  in  color  and  taste,  t->at 
would  seem  to  leave  little  to  be  desired,  but 
we  do  not  succeed  well  in  keeping  them,  and,  at 
the  best,  with  very  few  sorts.  We  grow  fine 
peaches  and  plums  in  Tennessee,  finer  in  Geor- 
gia, Alabama  and  Mississippi.  Last  year  2.000,000 
pounds  ot  dried  fuit  sold  in  Nashville  at  10  cents 
per  pound.  This  year  6,000,000  pounds  are  esti- 
mated by  the  trade.  Pears  grow  finely,  and  are 
subject  to  blights  badly.  They  do  well  in  Louis- 
iana and  Georgia.  In  Tennessee  we  grow  the 
May  Du*e  and  Morrello  cherries,  the  Wild  Goose 
plum,  and  a  late  red  plum.  There  are  many 
others  wild. 

The  grape  will  one  day  be  famous  in  the  South. 
In  North  Carolina,  West  Tennessee,  and  below 
34  degrees  the  Scuppernong  grows  finely,  and 
will  be  more  cultivated.  It  is  a  wonderful  bear- 
er, and  produces  a  wine  of  great  excellence.  1 
could  mention  many  valuable  sorts  that  are 
grown  in  my  state,  some  portions  of  which  are 
admirably  adapted  to  grape  culture.  Far  down 
South  the  Hamburg  and  Golden  Chasselaz  are 
grown.  Wild  varieties,  some  very  excellent, 
grow  everywhere. 

The  strawberry  and  blackberry,  the  raspberry 
and  dewberry,  whortleberry  and  gooseberry  all 
do  well,  and  if  you  are  not  satisfied  with  these, 


65 


Florida,  Louisana  and  Texas  proffer  to  your 
taste  the  golden  apple  of  the  Hesperides,  with 
flits,  lemons  and  bananas.  It  would  be  exceed- 
ingly tiresome  to  enumerate  the  entire  catalogue 
of  what  is  grown  in  our  Southern  States ;  the 
range  is  as  extensive  as  the  wants  of  the  most 
civilized  people  can  require  ;  somewhere  a  lo- 
cality will  suit  your  desires. 

There  can  be  found  in  Tennessee  cattle,  horses, 
sheep  and  hogs  of  the  most  fancy  and  purest 
blood.  More  money  is  invested  in  them  than 
ever  before,  and  the  taste  for  first  class  stock 
grows  daily.  Some  eminent  breeders,  as  Gen. 
Wm.  G.  Harding  of  my  state,  have  established  a 
wide  reputation,  and  there  are  some  younger 
men  of  indomitable  pluck  and  energy,  who  will 
figure  largely  in  the  future  of  Tennessee.  Major 
C.  Brown,  Thomas  Gibson,  the  brothers  B.  F.  and 
M.  S.  Cockrill  and  many  others, 

It  is  not  expected  that  at  this  time  we  can 
boast  that  our  system  of  economy  and  modes  of 
production  approach  anything  like  perfection. 
It  must  be  confessed  that  there  is  not  that  en- 
lightenment among  the  generality  of  our  people 
which  the  rays  of  science  pour  upon  her  votaries 
in  some  more  necessitous  countries ;  yet  a  stand- 
ard has  been  set  up,  and  the  diffusion  of  useful 
knowledge  spreads  more  and  more  everv  day. 

More  than  fifty  years  since,  the  labors  of  the 
most  eminent  planters  of  Maryland  and  Virgin- 
ia were  addressed  to  the  grateful  task  of  dis- 
seminating useful  knowledge,  and  improving 
methods  among  their  fellow  laborers  of  the 
field.  Baltimore  enjoys  the  honor  of  the  publi- 
cation of  the  best  agricultural  paper  of  the 
times,  by  Mr.  John  S.  Skinner,  one  of  the  sin- 
cerest  and  most  praiseworthy  gentlemen  that 
ever  labored  in  the  cause  of  American  agricul- 
ture ;  a  reference  to  the  files  of  the  American 
Farmer  will  justify  this  mention.  The  art  of  ag- 
riculture found  in  him  and  his  eminent  contri- 
butors, able,  earnest  and  enthusiastic  ministers 
at  her  altar,  which  they  raised  high  above  all 
selfishness.  New  inventions  of  agricultural  im- 
plements were  introduced  to  the  notice  and  ap- 
proval of  the  farmers ;  their  uses  and  designs 
carefully  elaborated ;  and  trials  and  experi- 
ments instituted,  and  results  made  known.  All 
manures  were  analyzed,  sea- weeds,  the  mud  of 
ponds,  rivers  and  marshes,  of  barn-yards,  sheep- 
folds,  fish,  plaster,  lime,  ashes  and  bones,  and  a 
long  list  were  satisfactorily  tested.  In  fine  they  in- 
vaded the  animal,  fossil  and  vegetable  kingdoms, 
by  their  energies  and  study. 

To  the  worn  lands  of  the  older  states,  all  this 
was  necessary;  but  the  South  and  Southwest 
did  not  as  yet  feel  a  necessity  for  such  inquiries 
and  additional  farm  labors.  Our  virgin  soils  al- 
most spontaneously  yielded  a  superabundance, 
in  the  absence  of  great  national  highways  of 
trade  and  commerce.  Our  fathers  are  content 
to  clear  away  the  forests,  lay  out  new  planta- 
tions, gather  and  rear  slaves,  and  were  satisfied 
with  a  wealth  of  possessions  in  land,  cattle  and 
slaves,  without  (save  exceptionally)  the  display 
of  ostentation.  The  love  of  letters  and  learning 
being  the  peculiar  province  of  what  our  people 
term  the  liberal  professions— the  lawyer  and  his 
alter  ego,  the  politician,  the  priest,  and  the  mer- 
chant—these esteemed  it  a  duty  to  themselves 
to  lead  their.agricultural  neighbors;  and  it  is  but 
just  to  say  that  among  them  might  be  found  the 
most  patriotic  and  illustrious  of  my  country- 
men. The  larger  planters  and  well-to-do  farm- 
ers reflected  some  of  their  light,  but  the  great 
body  of  the  farmers  was  scarcely  felt  or  known 
out  of  their  neighborhoods. 

The  old  field  schools  could  boast  many  a  sim- 
ple, honest  pedagogue,  and  an  occasional  mas- 
ter. The  rude  log  huts  in  which  they  presided 
have  been  the  scene  of  the  early  efforts  of  men 
whom  the  nation  has  delighted  to  honor.  It 
could  not  be  expected  that  much  emulation 
would  spring  up  among  a  people  so  easy  going 


and  satisfied  with  their  surroundings.  The  youth 
who  felt  the  glow  of  faith  and  burned  with  am- 
bitious ardor  to  distinguish  himself,  secured 
with  dilligenee  his  "  license  "  to  practice  law, 
then  with  courage  sought  new  countries  to  es- 
tablish his  fame  and  family,  and  how  many  of 
my  Tennessee  compatriots  essayed  it  ?  Go  wher- 
ever you  will,  their  hospitable  hands  and  hearts 
are  open  to  receive  you.  Our  people  want  noth- 
ing of  natural  endowment ;  the  rays  of  science 
have  heretofore  fallen  obliquely  upon  them;  but 
the  season  has  advanced,  and  this  sun  is  evidently 
about  to  pass  vertically  over  our  heads ;  a  new 
impulse  is  imparted,  when  newer  and  greater 
forces  are  introduced ;  it  is  a  happy  fact  that  the 
prejudices  inseparable  from  ignorance,  and  the 
bias  that  is  natural  to  sectional  policy,  seem  to 
be  passing  away  under  our  system  of  free 
schools  and  liberal  endowments  of  libraries,  col- 
leges and  universities  by  public  and  private  lib- 
erality ;  by  the  example  of  the  foremost  citi- 
zens, and  that  corps  of  editors  and  writers,  cleri- 
cal and  secular,  who  are  daily  educating  our 
people  up  to  a  high  standard  in  morals  and  phy- 
sics, and  a  better  appreciation  of  the  forces  sur- 
rounding them.  More  children  attend  school 
than  ever  before,  more  books,  papers  and  maga- 
ziues  are  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  knowl- 
edge is  generally  sought  for.  The  farmer  class, 
notably,  has  felt  the  new  impulse.  It  remained 
for  the  grange  to  proclaim  its  objects  and  aims, 
and  set  up  its  banner  in  the  South  ;  the  effect 
was  instantaneous ;  as  in  the  Northwest  our 
people  listened  and  imbibed  new  hope  of  their 
labors,  and  the  call  secured  to  them,  struggling 
under  every  embarrasment,  a  cry  of  succor ; 
with  the  speed  of  the  wind  it  flew  from  county 
to  county ;  it  enrolled  under  its  banners  the 
best  and  worthiest  men  of  the  field  ;  there  was 
a  period  of  amazement,  and  some  thrifty  men 
might  be  seen  to  seek  its  altars,  but  these, 
though  baleful,  could  not  check  the  torrent  of 
its  overflow;  wherever  the  principles  of  faith 
and  charity,  duty  and  fraternity,  consultation 
and  co-operation,  of  right  and  justice,  were  un- 
folded, there  were  the  converts  to  be  found,  and 
they  were  our  best  men  and  least  bigoted  citi- 
zens ;  they  exercised  the  God-given  right  to  pro- 
tect themselves  and  families  against  the  ma- 
chinations of  usurers,  sharpers  an  •'•  wits  ;  yet 
they  extended  to  all  other  classes  a  just  liberality 
of  sentiment. 

This  influence,  then,  has  been  at  work  to  im- 
prove our  Southern  agriculture ;  it  represses 
turbulence  and  disorder,  guards  public  justice, 
discountenances  illegalities,  it  stimulates  new 
experiments  in  the  productions  of  the  soil ;  new 
inventions,  when  better,  are  sought  and  applied 
to  cultivating,  harvesting  and  securing  crops  ; 
inquiries  flash  amongst  us  as  the  fire-fly  lights 
up  with  his  frequent  luminations  our  summer 
nights;  the  agricultural  aspect  has  changed  and 
daily  advances  in  improvement. 

The  modes  of  cultivation  among  our  people 
vary  according  to  the  degrees  of  their  taste  and 
reading  ;  some  are  incapable  of  continuous  ef- 
fort, cling  to  the  lunar  superstitions,  and  follow 
the  narrow  paths  blazed  by  their  fathers;  others 
are  full  of  inquiry,  engaged  with  eagerness  in 
the  discussion  of  what  relates  to  their  profes- 
sion, and  read,  and  write  for  agricultural  pa- 
pers, of  which  class  of  literature  the  South,  I 
say  it  with  pride,  can  exhibit  some  among  the 
best  in  the  United  States,  the  Rural  Sun  espe- 
cially, published  in  Nashville  ;  and  it  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  there  are  farmers  who  fail  to  sub- 
scribe for,  read  and  file  them. 

The  best  implements  (as  an  evidence  of  Ten- 
nessee progress)  find  a  wide  sale  in  our  state ; 
four  or  five  large  firms  in  Nashville  supply  Mid- 
dle Tennessee,  and  North  Alabama  in  part, 
and  are  kept  on  the  QUI  vive  by  outside  competi- 
tion. 

I  think  these  general  remarks  will  cover  the 


question  as  to  our  modes  of  cultivation ;  to  par- 
ticul  irize  would  be  tedious,  yet  I  am  aware  that 
agriculture  is  an  art,  aud  its  systems  and  modes 
the  true  delineators  of  it.  I  long-  to  see  the  day 
when  it  shall  be  regarded  among  the  highest 
professions,  and  its  educated  expositors  regard- 
ed with  that  proper  respect  which  scientific  at- 
tainments can  justly  claim. 

The  great  desideratum  of  the  farmer  must  be 
a  market,  in  which  to  sell  or  exchange  his  pro- 
ductions. If  his  wants  extend  no  further  than 
a  wagon  road,  that  should  be  a  good  and  safe 
one,  that  no  more  time  shall  be  consumed  in 
travel  than  is  necessary,  and  with  least  wear  and 
tear  of  vehicle,  stock  and  equipments.  Good 
county  and  state  roads  should  be  special  objects 
of  the  farmers'  care.  This,  however,  relates  to 
inter-atate  trade  ;  our  surplus  products  must 
be  exported.  The  railroads  now,  and  perhaps  in 
future,  will  continue  to  do  most  of  our  trans- 
portation ;  but  this  celerity  is  accompanied  with 
greater  expense  than  farm  products  can  pru- 
dently allow  of.  It  is,  therefore,  a  vital  ques- 
tion, and  admits  of  no  delay  nor  refusal;  shall 
the  general  government  improve  and  thus  cheap- 
en the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  river  and  its 
navigable  tributaries  ?  The  most  valuable  areas 
of  the  United  States  are  drained  by  these  rivers, 
and  such  improvements  should  be  worthy  of  the 
great  prestige. 

At  no  distant  day,  three-fourths  of  the  popu- 
lation of  this  great  country  will  occupy  these 
areas.  If  the  extension  of  population  along  the 
lake  shores  and  west  of  the  upper  Mississippi 
has  built  up  so  quickly  Chicago,  and  magnified 
the  enterprises  while  increasing  the  prosperity 
of  New  York  city,  which  binds  this  population 
through  her  great  lines  of  water  and  railroad 
transportation,  what  may  not  be  reasonably  ex- 
pected for  New  Orleans  and  our  other  favorably 
located  Southern  cities,  when  a  perfect  levee 
system  for  the  great  river  shall  be  completed, 
and  safe  and  easy  navigation  shall  be  secured  to 
thirty  thousand  miles  of  Southern  rivers,  and 
the  whole  vitalized  by  the  great  Texas  Pacific 
road,  that  magnificent  enterprise,  favored  by 
every  man  of  sense  in  the  South  ;  when  the  na- 
tural sequential  railroad  lines  shall  spread  over 
our  agricultural  areas,  as  they  do  now  in  the 
North  and  Northwest ! 

1  know  that  I  reflect  the  sentiments  of  our 
people  in  expressing  on  this  occasion  their  good 
wishes  for  the  success  of  Col.  Scott  in  carrying 
to  completion  that  great  national  work. 

Tennessee  desires  the  improvement  of  the 
Cumberland  river,  which  courses  fourteen  of  her 
counties,  asd  bathes  her  capital ;  the  600  miles 
of  its  navigable  length  wind  among  the  splendid 
tobaccco  lands  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  The 
Muscle  Shoals  on  the  Tennessee  river  must  be 
made  safe  and  easy  to  navigate ;  the  900  miles 
of  that  beautiful  river  will  come  under  the  do- 
minion of  steamers,  uninterruptedly  plying  from 
above  Knoxville  to  the  Ohio  river.  Their  ex- 
port freights  will  be  corn,  wheat,  wool,  tobacco, 
cattle,  hogs,  sheep,  fruit,  timber,  coal,  iron,  lead, 
zinc,  salt,  gypsum,  marble,  baryta,  and  copper  in 
vast  quantities  ;  and  a  people  who  can  produce 
these  riches  must  needs  bring  home  for  their 
enjoyment  the  rich  products  of  the  arts  and 
labors  of  other  states  and  foreign  peoples. 

The  old-fashioned  way  of  describing  the  differ- 
ent regions  of  the  United  States,  as  Eastern, 
Middle,  Southern,  etc.,  has  in  a  great  measure 
lost,  and  soon  will  finally  altogether  lose,  what 
significance  the  expression  once  carried  with  it. 
The  word  sectional  is  of  too  little  meaning  to 
comprehend  that  new  order  of  affairs  that  now 
appears ;  to  use  a  Scriptural  metaphor,  a  pro- 
phetic "  littie  horn"  is  rising,  and  its  prodigious 
growth  removes  all  doubt  of  its  ascendancy.  The 
identity  of  interest,  the  commercial  and  trade 
intercourse  daily  enlarging,  the  national  policy 


of  the  people  of  the  Mississippi  valley  from  the 
lakes  to  the  gulf,  from  Denver  toPittsburg.  con- 
stitute them  the  great  center.  The  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  slopes  will  have  their  policy,  but  it  will 
be  subsidiary  to,  or  say  auxilliary  to,  the  im- 
measurable strength,  the  lofty  stature  and  ex- 
ceiling  glory  of  the  centre,  whose  grandeur  and 
importance  cannot  be  estimated.  Its  spread 
buries  old  prejudices  and  sectionalisms  from  out 
of  sight  and  memory  forever ;  rears  a  new  race 
of  men  of  greater  activities  and  wider  business 
relations,  who  in  their  career  of  fortune  will  be 
so  occupied  with  their  business  interests  that  the 
story  of  our  cilvil  war  will  have  tor  them  almost 
as  little  interest  as  an  indifferent  page  of  uni- 
versal history  has  for  us  to-day. 

It  is  manifest  that  the  old  issues  between 
North  and  South  are  finally  settled  with  us,  and 
that  all  men  may,  and  can,  peaceably  enjoy  the 
equal  protection  of  the  law.  It  there  be  local 
exceptions,  these  must  yield  to  the  universal  de- 
mand for  submission  to  law  and  order  which 
comes  from  the  Southern  people  themselves,  as 
loving  peace  for  its  salutary  influence  upon  their 
labor  and  property ;  and  because  they  are  a 
Christian  people,  reverencing  God  ;  and  a  na- 
tional people,  loving  the  constitution  of  their 
country,  and  patriotically  proud  of  their  states. 

Would  to  God  that  the  dark  period  of  distrust 
which  for  the  last  eleven  years  has  palled  the 
brightness  of  our  South  land  might  pass  away, 
that  the  veil  might  be  lifted  from  the  glowing 
beauties  of  this  land  of  sunshine  and  flowers. 
Then  our  people  and  their  industries  would  re- 
vive, their  old  hospitalities  unfold  again,  and  a 
universal  return  to  the  standard  of  their  coun- 
try signal  their  complete  happiness. 

In  view  of  that  assured  event,  I  renew  the  in- 
vitation to  all  patriotic  and  worthy  men  to  come 
and  settle  in  our  beautiful  land.  It  is  bountiful 
and  healthy.  Those  are  worth  receiving  who 
come  to  build  hearths  and  home  altars  to  God 
and  country.  To  such  I  can  truly  say,  the  South 
needs  you,  and  will  accord  to  you  every  social 
ritrht  and  legal  equality.  The  rest,  as  it  effects 
your  fortunes,  is  to  be  obtained  by  steady  labor 
from  the  munificent  abundance  of  the  Great 
Creator,  which  everywhere  exists,  and  no  cli- 
matic rigors  are  known. 

In  conclusion,  I  return  you  my  thanks  for  your 
patient  attention.  I  beg  your  indulgence  If  I 
have  said  more  than  I  ought  on  the  political 
condition  of  the  agricultural  people  of  the  South, 
for  their  field  labors  have  suffered  and  do  suffer 
from  those  very  conditions,  aud  the  truth,  as  one 
understands  it,  must  needs  be  spoken,  though 
it  may  meet  with  opposition. 

I  refer  you  to  the  admirable  statistics  of  the 
United  States  Agricultural  Bureau  for  May  and 
June,  ultimo,  for  information  in  detail  on  all 
Southern  productions.  The  whole  country  is 
obliged  to  J.  R.  Dodge  for  his  intelligent  and  un- 
wearied labors  in  behalf  of  the  material  interests 
of  the  people.  AS  regards  our  own  locality,  I 
have  it  in  my  power  to  gratify  the  curiosity  of 
any  one  desiring  information. 


AGRICULTURAL    EDUCATION    IN 
THE   UNITED   STATES. 


By.  Prof.  N.  S.  TOWNSHEND. 


If  by  Agricultural  Education  we  are  to  under- 
stand the  systematic  and  complete  training  of 
the  young  farmer  in  all  the  branches  of  learn- 
ing that  relate  to  agriculture,  then  .such  educa- 
tion is  comparatively  new  in  our  country  and 
dates  back  at  farthest  only  fifteen  or  twenty 
years.  But  if  we  regard  as  educational  the 
various  measures  which  were  designed  to  pro- 
mote the  intelligence  of  the  farmer  in  what 
pertains  to  his  occupation,  and  which  have 
been,  and  continue  to  be,  important  aids  to  his 
progress,  we  must  then  admit  that  a  degree  of 
agricultural  education  has  been  enjoyed  in  this 
country  for  half  a  century,  or  perhaps  longer. 
In  what  follows,  I  hope  to  acknowledge  our 
obligations  to  the  various  agencies  which  have 
contributed  to  our  present  condition ;  we  are 
too  thankful  I  trust  to  overlook  willingly  any 
of  the  means  by  which  our  progress  has  been 
secured. 

The  increased  interest  felt  in  agricultural  ed- 
ucation during  the  last  quarter  or  half  a  cen- 
tury is  in  part  due  to  a  condition,  among  the 
most  observing  of  the  friends  of  agriculture, 
that  it  has  not  maintained  its  former  honorable 
position  among  our  national  industries,  and 
has  not  kept  up  with  the  general  progress  of 
the  times.  The  impression  prevails,  though 
possibly  not  entirely  justified  by  census  returns, 
that  the  increase  of  agricultural  products  is  not 
in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  lands  brought 
into  cultivation,  and  that  production  has  not 
kept  pace  with  the  increase  of  population. 
Besides  this,  there  is  a  conviction  that  capital 
employed  in  agriculture  brings  smaller  returns 
than  that  which  ia  otherwise  invested ;  and  that 
farmers  as  a  class  fail  to  secure  social  and  po- 
litical influence  in  proportion  to  their  wealth 
and  numbers.  It  has  also  become  evident  that 
the  best  soils  in  the  country  are  deteriorated  by 
cultivation,  while  those  who  are  despoiling  them 
of  fertility  are  more  inclined  to  go  where  they 
can  find  new  lands  to  exhaust,  than  to  remain 
and  restore  the  old.  Again  farm  and  garden 
crops  are  seen  to  be  liable  to  utter  destruc- 
tion by  the  ravages  of  insects,  the  wheat  of 
some  regions  is  destroyed  by  the  Hessian  fly,  in 
other  regions  by  the  wheat  midge-  The  corn 
crop  has  many  enemies  among  which  cut 
worms  and  wire  worms  are  especially  injurious. 
The  potato,  an  important  esculent,  especially  in 
the  Northern  States  after  being  almost  swept 
out  of  cultivation  by  the  Peronospora  finds  an 
equally  relentless  foe  in  the  Colorado  beetle. 
The  hay  crop,  the  dependence  for  the  winter 
food  of  stock  through  half  our  states,  is  some- 
times devoured  by  locusts.  The  cotton  crop  if 
it  escapes  the  caterpillar  is  liable  to  be  spoiled 


by  the  boll  worm,  and  even  tobacco  does  not 
escape.  Innumerable  insects  prey  upon  almost 
all  kinds  of  fruits  ;  while  the  chinch  bug  and 
army  worm  are  in  some  states  ready  to  take 
anything  that  other  depredators  have  left. 
More  than  all  this,  our  domestic  animals  are  the 
subjects  of  many  serious  diseases,  some  of 
which  prevail  epizootically,  others  are  sporadic. 
Horses  have  had  their  visitations  of  epizootic 
catarrh.  Cattle  have  had  pleuro-pneumonia 
and  Spanish  or  Texas  Fever.  Sheep  are  sub- 
ject to  the  lung  worm  disease,  hogs  to  cholera, 
and  besides  these  and  many  more  that  visit  us 
occasionally,  there  are  others  but  little  less 
fatal  that  never  leave  us,  and  make  a  heavy 
drawback  upon  the  farmer's  profits.  When 
such  obstacles  lie  in  the  farmers  pathway,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  he  should  become  convinced 
that  to  surmount  them,  he  must  have  a  higher 
order  of  intelligence.  Hence  the  employment 
by  the  farmer  of  various  educational  agencies 
in  the  hope,  that  by  their  aid,  he  may  ultimately 
be  able  to  conquer  success. 

Among  the  foremost  of  the  means  used  by 
the  farmer  to  quicken  his  thought  and  strength- 
en his  hands  was  association  and  agricultural 
societies,  state,  county,  and  township,  were 
established.  The  State  Agricultural  Society  ot 
New  York  was  organized  in  1829,  that  of  Ohio 
in  1846,  and  now  every  one  of  our  states,  and 
probably  all  the  territories  have  similar  organ- 
izations ;  innumerable  counties  in  all  parts  of 
the  country  had  voluntary  associations  before 
they  were  united  by  legislative  enactment  in 
state  organizations.  These  state  societies  pub- 
lish an  annual  report,  containing  the  official 
transactions  of  the  year,  detailed  accounts  of 
experiments,  observations,  and  useful  essays. 
The  annual  exhibitions  held  by  state  and  county 
societies,  have  served  to  educate  the  people  in 
regard  to  the  comparative  value  of  stock, 
fruits,  domestic  wares,  and  all  farm  products. 
The  utility  of  these  associations,  exhibitions 
and  reports  has  never  been  questioned. 

More  recently,  or  since  1868,  a  new  association, 
the  Grange  has  come  into  the  field  and  is  rapidly 
superseding  township  farmers'  clubs.  This  or- 
ganization consolidates  the  millions  of  farmers 
who  heretofore  have  been  isolated,  and  while 
by  union  it  brings  strength,  and  affords  protec- 
tion, and  secures  the  respect  that  is  everywhere 
yielded  to  power,  it  is  proving  of  far  more  con- 
sequence as  a  means  of  mental  and  social  cult- 
ure. Every  member  of  a  Grange  finds  in  this 
association  duties  fitted  to  his  abilities,  and  op- 
portunities for  exercise  sufficient  to  command 
his  best  endeavors.  One  of  the  noblest  fea- 
tures of  the  organization  is,  that  it  admits 
woman  to  equal  participation  of  its  benefits;  it 
is  therefore  free  from  the  hoary  barbarism 
which  metes  out,  or  withholds  opportunities  of 
usefulness  or  enjoyment  according  to  sex. 
While  these  various  associations  have  engaged 


public  attention,  a  standard  agricultural  litera- 
ture has  grown  up  quietly,  but  not  the  less  ef- 
fectively done  its  educational  work.  Such 
books  as  Youatt's  on  "Domestic  Animals  and 
Their  Diseases,"  and  Liebig's  on  the  "Appli- 
cation of  Chemistry  to  Agriculture,"  have  been 
of  inestimable  service  in  the  past,  and  hundreds 
of  volumes  are  now  accessible  to  the  farmer, 
covering  the  whole  range  of  agricultural  sub- 
jects. The  extent  of  this  literature  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  fact  that  a  single  house  in  New 
York,  that  of  Orange  Judd  &  Co.,  advertise 
more  than  three  hundred  agricultural  works, 
mostly  of  tneir  own  publication. 

The  periodical  literature  of  agriculture,  is  not 
less  important  as  an  educational  agency,  sixty 
or  more  agricultural  weeklies,  as  many  month-- 
lies, and  a  few  semi-monthlies  and  quarterlies, 
are  published  in  the  United  States;  some  of 
these  do  find,  or  ought  to  find  their  way  to  every 
farm  house  in  the  land  for  the  instruction  and 
entertainment  of  the  farmer,  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren. Such  journals  preserve  and  transmit  the 
lessons  of  the  times,  answer,  or  at  least  echo 
every  question  as  it  arises,  and  serve  as  a  means 
of  communication  between  the  individual 
farmer,  and  the  great  interest  with  which  he  is 
identified. 

The  Agricultural  Bureau  established  in  Wash- 
ington in  1863  has  already  done  good  service,  the 
collection  and  timely  publication  of  agricultural 
statistics  serves  as  an  index  to  the  desirableness 
of  increased  or  diminished  production  in  given 
directions,  and  is  alike  indispensable  to  farmers, 
capitalists  and  statesmen.  The  contributions  to 
economic  entomology,  and  other  topics  of  ab- 
sorbing interest,  make  its  monthly  and  annual 
reports  more  than  welcome  in  every  part  of  the 
country. 

Last,  but  evidently  not  least,  is  this  Centennial 
Exhibition  ;  of  its  educational  character  and  in- 
fluence there  can  be  doubt.  If  we  learn  mainly 
by  comparison,  and  if  our  state  and  county  ex- 
hibitions are  valuable  because  they  furnish  op- 
portunities for  its  exercise,  here  we  have  an  un- 
paralelled  opportunity  of  comparing,  not  the 
products  of  a  county  or  state  merely,  but  the 
methods,  skill  and  productions  of  almost  the 
whole  world. 

The  educational  value  of  all  such  agencies  may 
be  fully  acknowledged  and  still  there  is  seen  to 
be  lacking  opportunities  for  that  systematic  and 
thorough  training  of  the  young  which  only  a  well 
equipped  college  can  afford.  This  had  become 
apparent  to  thinking  men  all  over  the  country, 
and  prompted  them  to  efforts  to  secure  the  es- 
tablishment of  such  institutions,  encouraged  not 
a  little  by  what  many  of  them  had  seen  or  heard 
of  their  utility  in  various  parts  of  Europe. 

Before  Congress  made  any  provision  for  the 
scientific  education  of  the  people,  a  few  private 
or  local  enterprises  with  that  object  had  entered 
the  field.  In  Northern  Ohio,  first  at  Oberlin,  and 
then  at  Cleveland,  the  Ohio  Agricultural  College 


was  opened  for  students  in  the  fall  of  1856.  At 
Ovid,  N.  Y.,  a  similar  institution  was  started 
about  the  same  time.  Michigan  Agricultural 
College  began  in  1857,  and  the  Maryland  Agri- 
cultural College  in  1858.  At  Mt.  Airy,  Pa.,  the 
Farmers  High  School  was  opened  in  1853;  what- 
ever its  beginnings  it  finally  grew  into  a  State 
Agricultural  College. 

In  this  country  there  has  not  been  a  just  ap- 
preciation of  the  value  of  schools  of  veterinary 
medicine.  With  few  exceptions,  farmers  are  sat- 
isfied to  prescribe  for  sick  animals  without  com- 
petent knowledge  of  the  nature  or  course  of 
their  ailment;  they  administer  what  custom  or 
superstition  dictates.  In  this  country  qualified 
veterinarians  have  been  unable  to  earn  a  liveli- 
hood by  their  profession,  except  in  a  few  of  the 
larger  cities.  This  is  the  more  remarkable  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  we  have  in  the  United 
States  domestic  animals  of  the  value  of  two 
thousand  millions  of  dollars  ($2,000,000.000),  which 
are  probably  subjected  to  an  annual  loss  of  some 
six  per  cent  from  diseases  that  are  preventable 
or  cureable  by  good  treatment.  A  loss  so  enor- 
mous if  it  could  be  prevented  would  much  more 
than  sustain  a  well  appointed  veterinary  college 
in  every  state.  Such  colleges  have  been  estab- 
lished in  Philadelphia  and  New  York  but  with- 
out government  aid  or  endowment,  they  have 
invariably  proved  a  heavy  burden  upon  the 
shoulders  of  their  founders,  and  have  not  met 
the  encouragement  and  success  they  have  de- 
served. 

It  would  not  be  right  to  ignore  the  benefits  that 
have  accrued  to  agriculture  from  the  regular 
medical  schools  of  the  country.  These  have  been 
in  the  past  the  chief  nurseries  of  science,  and  to 
them  we  are  indebted  for  whatever  of  chemistry, 
botany  and  zoology  has  been  brought  within  the 
reach  of  the  farmer.  At  present  the  Agricultural 
Colleges  are  able  to  return  this  service  with  in- 
terest, the  chemical,  botanical  and  zoological 
courses  in  many  of  the  agricultural  colleges  be- 
ing much  more  complete  than  in  any  of  the  med- 
ical schools.  They  therefore  afford  to  young  men 
who  propose  to  enter  the  medical  profession  the 
best  opportunities  of  acquiring  an  important 
part  of  their  preliminary  education. 

In  1862,  Congress  made  a  grant  of  land  from 
the  public  domain  to  each  of  the  states  in  aid  ot 
agricultural  education ;  the  amount  to  each  state 
was  in  proportion  to  population,  and  was  30,000 
acres  for  each  representative  and  senator  in  the 
national  legislature.  The  conditions  of  the  grant 
were  such  that  each  state  which  should  accept 
was  required  to  put  into  operation  one  or  more 
colleges,  having  for  their  leading  object  to  teach 
such  branches  of  learning  as  relate  to  agricult- 
ure and  the  mechanic  arts.  A  further  condition 
required  the  safe  investment  of  this  fund  in  trust, 
so  as  to  secure  to  these  colleges  an  adequate  and 
permanent  income. 

This  action  on  the  part  of  Congress  had  the  ef- 
fect to  arrest  public  attention  at  once ;  but  as 


might  have  been  expected,  where  experience 
could  not  be  relied  on  for  guidance,  very  differ- 
ent views  obtained  in  regard  to  the  kind,  and 
method  of  the  education  most  needed  by  the 
farmer. 

Many  advocated  the  transfer  of  the  future 
fund  to  the  literary  institutions  already  existing, 
on  the  supposition  that  the  agricultural  educa- 
tion most  needed  is  the  education  as  that  term 
has  always  been  understood  of  the  agriculturist. 
His  great  need,  they  said,  is  the  mental  discipline 
which  a  literary  training  is  best  fitted  to  impart. 
To  this  it  was  replied,  that  whatever  the  benefits 
of  a  course  in  a  literary  institution,  such  a  course 
would  leave  the  student  comparatively  ignorant 
of  those  branches  of  science  that  are  especially 
related  to  his  occupation,  and  besides  this  it  is 
found  almost  invariably  to  educate  the  student 
from  instead  of  for  the  farm. 

Others  contended  that  practical  schools  were 
especially  needed,  schools  in  which  the  student 
would  regularity  take  part  in  agricultural  labors 
and  thus  acquire  skill  in  all  farming  operations. 
The  advocates  of  this  plan  seemed  to  overlook 
the  fact  that  it  is  not  agriculture  as  an  art  that 
needs  to  be  taught  so  much  as  agriculture  as  a 
science ;  it  is  to  the  sciences  upon  which  the  art 
is  founded  that  we  must  look  for  all  future  pro- 
gress. The  art  of  agriculture  may  probably  be 
better  learned,  and  much  cheaper,  on  a  well 
managed  farm  than  in  any  college  whatever, 
and  young  men  from  the  farm  are  most  of  them 
already  familiar  with  all  farming  operations.  It 
is  something  more  than  this  which  the  young 
farmer  needs  to  enable  him  to  grapple  success- 
fully with  the  difficulties  that  will  beset  his 
pathway  in  the  future. 

Still  another  view,  and  one  which  appears  to 
have  prevailed,  maintained  that  colleges  very 
different  from  ordinary  literary  institutions, were 
required  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  farmer  and 
other  industrial  classes,  or  to  comply  with  the 
terms  of  the  law  which  called  the  agricultural 
colleges  into  existence.  That  a  new  course 
of  instruction  must  be  devised  to  give  the  stu- 
dent useful  familiarity  with  all  the  physical 
sciences  on  which  the  productive  industries  of 
the  country  are  based,  and  a  different  method  of 
instruction  pursued  so  that  the  objective  and 
concrete  shall,  as  far  as  possible,  take  the  place 
of  the  verbal  and  abstract.  That  work  in  the 
laboratory  with  the  means  and  instruments  of 
investigation  is  preferable  to  a  lesson  learned 
from  a  text  book,  and  that  the  aim  should  be  to 
make  students  as  familiar  with  methods  of  in- 
vestigation as  with  the  results.  In  such  pursuits 
it  is  claimed  that  the  student  will  learn  to  ob- 
serve, and  compare,  to  classify,  to  reason,  and  to 
describe  with  accuracy,  and,  in  short,  obtain  a 
mental  discipline  more  useful  to  the  working 
farmer  or  mechanic  than  that  generally  obtain- 
ed through  purely  literary  studies. 

There  is,  however,  no  practical  difficulty  in 
uniting  these  different  plans  to  some  extent.  It 


is  an  advantage  to  the  student  to  have  variety  in 
his  studies;  more  in  the  aggregate  can  be  accom- 
plished, and  a  more  systematical  culture  obtain- 
ed. For  example,  if  a  student  begins  the  day 
with  mathematical  studies,  and  after  a  good  les- 
son is  somewhat  wearied,  then  botany,  zoology, 
or  chemistry  will  be  pursued  for  a  time  in  the 
laboratory  with  absolute  freshness;  then  after  a 
few  hours  spent  in  good,  healthy,  vigorous  labor 
the  study  of  some  ancient  or  modern  language 
will  add  little  to  the  fatigue,  and  much  to  the 
scholarship.  A  variety  of  studies,  mathematical, 
scientific,  and  literary,  and  a  variety  of  labor, 
scientific,  mechanical  or  agricultural,  will  best 
secure  that  liberal  and  practical  education  which 
the  industrial  classes  need  in  the  several  pur- 
suits and  professions  of  life. 

The  following  branches  are  considered  import- 
ant to  a  good  agricultural  education  and  are 
taught  more  or  less  thoroughly  in  all  the  colleges 
of  this  class.  In  some  of  them  a  much  fuller 
course  than  is  here  indicated  is  provided. 

Chemistry,  mineralogy  and  geology  are  taught 
in  their  elements,  and  in  their  applications  to 
improvement  of  the  soil,  to  the  arts  and  manu- 
factures, and  to  mining  and  metallurgy. 

Mathematics  in  all  its  branches  and  applica- 
tions to  business  accounts,  to  surveying,  engi- 
neering, navigation  and  astronomy. 

Physics,  and  its  applications  to  the  mechanical 
and  useful  arts,  and  meteorology. 

Botany— structural,  physiological  and  system- 
atic in  its  relations  to  field  crops,  gardening,  or- 
charding and  forestry. 

Zoology,  etc.,  the  structure  and  classification 
of  animals,  the  laws  of  life  as  applied  to  their 
profitable  management  in  health,  and  their 
treatment  in  disease. 

Political  economy  and  civil  government. 

The  ample  means  of  illustrating  such  applica- 
tions of  science  to  the  various  arts  and  indus- 
tries, constitutes  the  peculiar  feature  of  the  ag- 
ricultural colleges.  The  extent  of  the  means  of 
illustration  may  differ  in  different  institutions 
according  to  their  resources,  but  the  method  of 
employing  abundant  and  practical  illustration  is 
alike  in  all.  The  lesson  is  not  simply  given  by 
book  or  voice,  the  student  is  made  to  see  it  with 
his  own  eyes,  and  do  it  with  his  own  hands. 

The  following  state  institutions  have  already 
been  established  upon  the  national  endowment, 
together  with  the  date  of  their  foundation. 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  of  Alabama..  1872 

Arkansas  Industrial  University 1872 

Agricultural,  Miueralouical  and  Mechanical  Uni- 
versity of  California 1869 

Sheffield  Scientific  laboratory,  Yale  College 1846 

Agricultural  Department  Delaware  CoLege 1870 

Georgia  State  Collection  of  Agricultuial  and  Me- 
chanical Arts 1872 

Nortti-Georg'a  Agricultural  College  at  Dalilone«a..l873 

Illinois  Industrial  University 1867 

Purdue  University,  Agricultural  College  of  Indiana.l8J4 

Iowa  State  Agricultural  College 1869 

Kansas  Agricultural  College 1863 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical   College,   Kentucky 

University 1866 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  Louisiana. . .  .1874 
Maine  State  Collection  of  Agricultural  and  Me- 
chanical Arts 1868 


70 


United  States  Naval  Academy 1846 

Maryland  Agricultural  College 1858 

Massachusetts  Agricultural  College 1867 

Massac.hu*atts  Institute  of  Technology 1861 

Michigan  State  Agri'-ultural  College 1857 

Collection  of  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Arts, 

Minnesota 1870 

Collection  of  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Arts, 

Mississippi 1871 

Alcorn  University,  MiBSis-ippi 1871 

Missouri  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  ....1870 

Missouri  School  of  Mines  and  Metallurgy 1871 

Agricultural  College,  Nebraska 1872 

New  Hampshire  College  ;>f  Agriculture 1868 

Scientific  School  of  Kutger's  College,  New  Jersey.  .1864 
Collection  of  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Arts, 

Cornell  University,  New  York 1868 

United  states  Milita  y  Academy  1802 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  ot  North  Car- 

oliua 1795 

Ohio  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College 1870 

Corvallis  Sta'e  Agricultural  College,  Oregon 1868 

Pennsylvania  State  College 1859 

Agricultural  and   Scientific  Department,    Brown 

University,  Khode  Island  

South  Carolina  Agricultural  College  and  Mechani- 
cal Institute 

Tennessee  Agricultural  College 1869 

Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  Texas 

Stafi  Agricultural  College,  Vermont 1865 

Virginia  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College 1872 

Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute 1872 


Agricultural  Department  of  West  Virginia  Univer- 


sity 


18R7 


College  of  Arts,  Universl'  y  of  Wisconsin 

Many  literary  institutions  have  also  adapted 
their  instruction  to  the  popular  demand  by  the 
arrangem  ent  of  scientific  departments  or  courses. 
These  are  doubtless  of  service,  and  might  be 
more  so  if  such  institutions  were  better  provided 
with  material  and  apparatus.  But  in  many  lit- 
erary institutions  the  physical  sciences  are  un- 
fortunately held  at  a  discount,  and  their  utility 
as  a  means  of  discipline  is  underrated  or  abso- 
lutely denied. 

What  proportion  of  young  farmers  will  pursue 
a  thorough  course  in  agricultural  colleges  we 
cannot  predict ;  many  of  them  at  the  present 
evidently  do  not  see  the  necessity  of  such  train- 
ing, and  the  short  time  that  has  elapsed  since  the 
establishment  of  these  colleges  has  not  been  suf- 
ficient to  furnish  unassailable  demonstration  of 
their  utility.  We  may,  however,  with  confidence 
expect  that  a  sufficient  number  will  attend  to  be 
of  great  use  to  the  farming  interest.  To  men 
thoroughly  educated  in  our  agricultural  colleges 
must  be  committed  the  solution  of  most  of  the 
knotty  problems  that  now  stand  in  the  way  of 
the  farmers'  progress. 

Shorter  and  special  courses  having  direct  rela- 
tion to  some  prospective  business  may  possibly 
be  more  popular  at  the  outset  than  the  fuller 
course.  Even  such  a  course  it  is  hoped  may  suf- 
fice to  put  students  in  possession  of  the  means 
and  methods  of  investigation,  and  to  open  to 
them  the  various  sources  of  useful  information. 

It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  agricultural 
colleges  were  not  intended  to  supersede  common 
schools  butto  supplement  them.  A  good  common 
school  education  should  be  obtained  before  the 
student  enters  the  college,  and  the  young  man 
who  has  failed  to  make  good  use  of  the  common 
school  or  its  equivalent  has  clearly  no  place  in 
the  college.  If  examinations  for  admission  are 
sufficiently  strict,  so  far  as  common  school 
branches  are  concerned,  a  very  beneficial  influ- 
ence will  be  exerted  on  the  pupils  and  studies  of 
the  common  schools.  Students  who  attend  col- 
lege for  a  special  course  might,  however,  be  ad- 
mitted on  showing  themselves  prepared  to  pur- 
sue that  specialty  with  success. 

An  objection  has  been  raised  to  the  appropri- 
ation of  public  monies  for  agricultural  schools, 
on  the  ground  that,  while  the  benefits  cap  be  en- 
joyed by  a  part  of  the  people,  the  cost  is  levied 
upon  the  whole.  To  this  it  may  be  said  that  a 
kind  of  education  which  is  confessedly  necessary 
to  develop  the  material  resources  of  the  country, 
and  supply  material  for  the  arts  in  peace,  and 


also  the  sinews  of  war,  is  as  much  a  matter  of 
national  concern  as  the  naval  or  military  train- 
ing by  which  government  seeks  to  provide  for 
the  common  defense.  But  the  objection  is  based 
on  the  mistaken  notion  that  these  agricultural 
colleges,  so-called,  are  really  monotechnic,  When 
in  fact,  they  were  designed  to  teach,  and  do  teach 
an  the  branches  of  learning  that  relate  to  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts,  and  are  therefore 
truly  polytechnic.  If  exception  is  taken  to  the 
name  because  one  art  is  named  while  many  are 
taught,  it  will  be  remembered  that  there  is  at 
least  the  same  propriety  in  naming  a  school  of 
all  the  arts  after  one  or  two  of  them,  that  there 
is  in  calling  all  the  phonetic  symbols  of  the  Ian- 
gauge  the  A  B  C,  or  the  alpha  beta. 

The  provision  so  munificently  made  in  this 
country  for  agricultural  education  is  one  of 
the  most  noteworthy  facts  of  the  times.  It  is 
so  recent  that  at  present  the  effect  is  not  clearly 
seen,  and  can  only  be  foreshadowed  by  an  ef- 
fort of  the  imagination;  some  results,  how- 
ever, we  may  confidently  anticipate.  We  may 
hope  to  diminish  the  immense  distance  between 
our  possible  and  our  actual  attainments  in 
farming— as  seen  in  the  largeness  of  all  our 
premium  crops,  and  the  meagreness  of  our 
general  averages.  The  best  wheat  crops  in 
Great  Britain,  do  not  exceed  the  best  in  this 
country,  but  the  average  crop  there  is  more 
than  twice  as  great  as  the  average  crop  here. 

Not  only  may  we  expect  an  increase  in  the 
quantity  of  farm  products,  but  also  an  improve- 
ment in  the  quality.  This  is  already  seen  in  re- 
gard to  cheese,  and  in  some  localities  in  regard 
to  butter.  It  is  especially  true  of  many  fruits 
and  vegetables,  and  still  more  notably  true  of 
almost  all  varieties  of  domestic  animals. 

The  adaptation  and  employment  of  machinery 
in  farming  operations  instead  of  hand  labor, 
will  have  the  effect  to  reduce  greatly  the  cost  of 
production.  The  use  of  steam  will,  in  many 
cases,  enable  us  to  diminish  the  expense  of 
animal  forces. 

From  the  improved  drainage  of  the  country, 
which  a  better  agriculture  will  necessitate,  there 
will  result  increased  salubrity.  Malarious  dis- 
eases, and  even  consumption  have  been  almost 
banished  from  well  drained  regions.  Improved 
sewerage  about  dwellings  and  farm  buildings 
will  prevent  many  of  the  most  fatal  diseases 
both  of  men  and  animals. 

Increased  comfort  and  beauty  of  the  dwell- 
ings of  the  agricultural  population  is  another 
benefit  we  may  safely  anticipate.  When  rural 
architecture  and  landscape  gardening,  and  hor- 
ticulture in  all  its  branches  are  better  under- 
stood by  the  farmer,  the  effect  on  his  home 
will  soon  be  manifest  and  the  improvement  of 
the  home  will  promote  the  refinement  and  hap- 
piness of  his  family. 

Improved  agriculture  is  intimately  connected 
with  general  prosperity,  the  chief  production  of 
the  raw  material  to  be  used  in  the  arts  is  im- 
portant, as  is  also  the  cheapness  of  living.  The 
good  of  all  classes  requires  that  the  farmer 
should  be  enabled  to  realize  his  cherished  ideal 
viz.:  of  producing  the  bent  of  everything,  at  the 
least  possible  cost. 

Gentlemen,  this  Centennial  year  of  our  na- 
tional existence  might  very  well  begin  a  new 
era  in  regard  to  agricultural  education.  If  the 
American  farmer  instead  of  feeling  that  no 
special  preparation  of  himself  is  required, 
would  at  once  endeavor  to  secure  for  himself 
and  for  his  sons  and  daughters,  a  thorough  ac- 
quaintance with  all  the  branches  of  knowledge 
that  relate  to  his  noble  calling,  as  soon  as  this 
knowledge  could  be  applied  to  the  practical  de- 
tails of  farm  life,  we  should  see  the  quantity 
and  quality  of  our  farm  products  equal  to  the 
best  of  other  countries,  or  even  as  much  supe- 
rior as  we  now  consider  the  most  of  our  agri- 
cultural implements  and  machinery. 


n 


MONEY  CONSIDERED  AS  OUR  IN- 
DUSTRIAL TOOL. 


HON.  W.  C.  FLAGG,  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  } 

NATIONAL  AGRICULTURAL  CONGRESS  V 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  } 

Dear  Sir :— I  feel  much  flattered  by  your  kind 
invitation  to  attend  ftie  annual  session  of  your 
Congress  which  will  appropriately  meet,  this 
year,  at  Philadelphia,  the  centre  of  so  much  that 
is  attractive  and  interesting  to  the  people  of  all 
civilized  nations.  If  my  engagements  will  per- 
mit I  will  endeavor  to  avail  myself  of  the  time 
and  the  opportunity  to  be  present,  and  listen  to 
the  discussions  on  the  many  interesting  topics 
embraced  in  the  programme  of  proceedings, 
which  you  were  good  enough  to  send  me.  Hav- 
ing learned,  by  several  years  of  practical  experi- 
ence, the  business  of  farming,  in  early  life,  I 
always  take  a  special  interest  in  every  plan  con- 
certed by  the  agricultural  classes  to  promote 
their  material,  moral  and  social  condition,  cut 
off  and  isolated  as  the  individuals  of  the  farming 
community  necessarily  are,  from  many  of  the 
advantages  enjoyed  by  the  dwellers  in  cities. 

Turning  to  a  question  of  great  individual  and 
national  importance,  the  currency,  or  money 
question,  I  feel  tempted  by  the  gratifying  recep- 
tion which  my  paper  on  that  subject  received  at 
the  hands  of  the  Illinois  Farmers  Association, 
last  year,  to  offer  some  remarks  for  the  consid- 
eration of  the  National  Congress,  on  a  branch  of 
the  science  of  money  that  has  not,  until  quite 
recently,  received  clear  and  demonstrative  elu- 
cidations. I  refer  to  what  may  be  called  the 
fundamental  principles  of  money  itself —what 
money  actually  is,  what  exact  services  it  per- 
forms, and  how  it  performs  them.  When  we  are 
told  that  "money  is  a  medium  of  exchange" 
that  it  is  "some  material  which  society  agrees  to 
accept  and  use  to  effect  the  exchange  of  com- 
modities, or  the  products  of  labor,"  we  are  not 
much  wiser  for  the  definition.  Such  general  ex- 
planations of  the  principles  or  uses  of  money  do 
not  carry  us  back  to  the  foundation  of  the  sub- 
ject, or  to  what  is  fundamental,  and  I  have  ven- 
'tured  to  question  the  correctness  of  some  of  the 
received  expressions  and  theories.  I  have  even 
ventured  to  give  a  new  direction  to  thought, 
and  to  claim  that  money  must  be  regarded  main- 
ly, if  not  wholly,  in  the  light  of  a  tool;  used,  not 
to  effect  or  facilitate  exchanges,  but  to  abolish 
them,  and  render  exchanges,  of  commodities, 
which  means  barter,  unnecessary. 

I  must  here  anticipate,  as  it  were,  my  subject, 
in  order  to  prepare  the  minds  of  those  i  address, 
for  what  is  to  follow,  and  point  out  what  is  now 
an  accepted  principle  in  monetary  science,  name- 
ly capital,  and  not  money  considered  by  itself,  is 
the  motive  power  that  sets  labor  in  motion,  and 
distributes  its  products  to  consumers  and  ulti- 
mate buyers.  Money,  in  fact,  forms  only  a  very 
insignificant  part  of  the  capital  employed  in 


these  innumerable  processes.  In  Great  Britian, 
it  has  been  found,  by  analyses  of  bankers  ac- 
counts, that  money  (metallic  and  paper  together) 
is  used  in  carrying  on  the  industries  of  the  peo- 
ple to  the  extent  of  barely  three  per  cent.,  and 
the  experience  of  bankers  in  America  shows  that 
not  above  five  per  ceut  of  money  is  so  employed. 
But  whatever  may  be  the  exact  proportion  be- 
tween money,  in  its  capacity  of  capital,  and  of 
other  things  representing  capital,  it  is  necessary 
to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  subject  to  bear 
in  mind  this  well  drawn  distinction,  which  will 
become  more  apparent  when  we  get  a  clear  view 
of  the  offices  performed  by  money  in  its  other 
and  much  more  important  characteristic  of  a 
tool  or  measure  of  value. 

I  will  now  proceed  to  quote  some  of  the  postu- 
lates of  monetary  science,  published  by  me  in  a 
London  journal  last  spring,  which  I  have  cor- 
rected and  extended  in  a  manuscript  work  en- 
titled "  The  Principles  of  Monetary  Science  Con- 
sidered," which  I  propose  to  publish  on  my  re- 
turn to  London. 

POSTULATES  AND  PRINCIPLES  OF  MONETARY 
SCIENCE. 

i.  Money  is  something  that  all  the  members  of 
a  community,  or  nation,  by  universal  agreement^ 
are  willing  to  accept  in  exchange  for  their  labor 
or  for  such  things  as  they  possess  and  desire  to 
sell,  in  order  to  purchase  with  the  avails,  other 
things  which  they  do  not  possess  or  produce. 

II.  All  civilized  nations  (ancient  and  modern) 
have  adopted  gold  and  silver,  or  one  of  these 
metals,  out  of  which  to  fabricate  their  money, 
or  the  chief  part  of  it— the  preference  for  these 
metals  having,  no  doubt,  arisen  from  their  com- 
parative freedom  from  fluctuations  in  value,  and 
their  superior  fitness  for  coining.  Hence,  gold 
and  silver  coins,  or  the  coins  of  one  of  these 
metals,  constitute  the  true  money  of  every  civ- 
ilized nation. 

in.  Money  derives  its  trading,  or  purchasing 
power,  and  ability  to  circulate,  as  currency,  and 
to  circulate  and  distribute  commodities,  from 
the  market  value  of  the  material  of  which  it  is 
made. 

iv.  Money  abolishes  barter,  or  the  exchange 
of  labor,  and  the  products  of  labor  in  specified 
quantities. 

v.  Money,  in  its  denominations  as  coin,  sped- 
f ying  a  given,  or  measured  quantity  of  metal, 
constitutes  a  tool  or  measure  of  the  value  of 
labor,  and  of  all  commodities,  gold  and  siver  in- 
cluded. It  also  metes  out  capital  in  the  loan- 
improperly  called  the  "  money  market,"  in  spec- 
ified sums— as  so  many  dollars  or  pounds. 

vi.  The  stamp  of  the  state,  or  the  impress  of 
a  denomination  on  a  coin,  is  the  warranty  of  the 
state  that  such  coin  contains  a  specific  weight  of 
metal  of  given  fineness,  but  adds  nothing  to  its 
market  value,  for  a  shilling  cannot  be  made  to 
circulate  for  a  sovereign,  or  a  dollar,  nor  the 
latter  for  the  former,  by  merely  exchanging  the 


72 


stamp  from  one  to  the  other.  As  an  example 
the  iron  money  of  Sparta  only  exchanged  for  its 
market  value  as  iron,  of  which  it  took  nearly 
the  weight  of  an  ox  or  a  horse  to  pay  fer  his 
purchase. 

vu.  Paper  money — a  term  that  very  well  de- 
fines the  circulating  notes  of  a  solvent  bank,  or 
nation,  when  payable  in  lawful  coin  on  demand, 
will  not  depreciate  or  fall  below  the  market 
value  of  the  metal  in  which  they  are  made  con- 
vertible ;  nor  will  any  more  of  such  money  re- 
main in  circulation  than  is  needed  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  industry  for  this  description  of 
tools,  because  of  their  costliness  to  the  present 
holders.  Any  more  than  is  so  needed  will  return 
to  the  issuer  for  conversion.  Hence  there  can 
not,  in  the  long  run,  be  a  redundancy  of  convert- 
ible paper  money.  Hence,  also,  the  great  advan- 
tage of  convertibility  in  paper  money,  as  a  reg- 
ulator of  the  quantity  actually  needed  by  the 
people. 

Viii.  Paper  money,  not  convertible  into  metal 
on  demand,  when  made  a  legal  tender  by  the 
Government,  will  not  depreciate  below  the  value 
of  metal  (and  may  even  possess  a  higher  value, 
because  the  people  must  have  a  circulating  medi- 
um), unless  issued  in  excess  of  the  requirements 
of  industry,  con vertiblity,  therefore,  is  not  need- 
ed to  sustain  its  value,  but  to  regulate  its  volume 
with  accuracy,  so  .as  to  prevent  fluctuations 
above  or  below  the  market  value  of  the  most 
staple  of  metals  into  which  it  is  convertible. 

ix.  When  the  Government  is  the  issuer  of  in- 
convertible paper  money,  it  is  a  fundamental 
error,  and  a  fraud  on  the  public,  to  make  it  legal 
tender  between  individuals,  and  refuse  to  accept 
it  in  payment  of  a  large  proportion  of  taxes. 
Such  a  Government  discredits  its  own  obliga- 
tions, and  lowers  the  character  and  credit  of  its 
own  paper,  and,  hence,  it  is  responsible  for  the 
serious  fluctuations  of  its  paper  currency,  the 
market  value  of  which  is  dependent  wholly  on 
supply  and  demand. 

The  foregoing  propositions  have  been  framed 
in  language  intended  to  make  the  principles  they 
contain  strike  the  reasoner  as  self-evident  truths 
or  postulates,  and  I  regret  that  my  limits  will 
not  permit  me  to  give  the  whole  series.  I  will 
only  cite  two  more  to  define  the  nature  of  capital 
as  distinguished  from  money. 

x.  Commodities  in  transit  from  producers  to 
ultimate  purchasers  or  consumers,  represented 
by  their  title  deeds,  such  as  bills  of  lading,  ware- 
housemen's receipts,  bills  of  exchange,  cheques, 
bankers  credits  and  other  devices,  invented  and 
used  by  bankers  for  the  transference  of  debts 
and  credits,  constitute  a  large,  if  not  a  control- 
ling, proportion  of  the  floating  capital  dealt  in 
in  the  loan  market,  improperly  called  the  "money 
market." 

xi.  Floating,  or  trading  capital,  other  than 
that  representing  commodities  themselves,  sup- 
plied to  the  loan  market,  consists  of  realized 
profits  of  trade,  and  the  savings  of  labor,  not  yet 


invested  in  more  permanent  undertakings,  such 
as  houses,  factories  and  lands,  and  steamships, 
railways,  mines  and  numerous  other  things  not 
consumable,  or  which  are  net  destroyed  in  use. 
Such  investments  are  sometimes  called  "fixed," 
in  contra  distinction  to  "floating  capital." 

xn.  Floating  capital,  which  is  defined  in  the 
two  last  postulates,  the  la^er  of  which  (No.  11) 
embraces  money  (which  forms  only  from  three 
to  five  per  cent  of  the  general  mass),  constitutes 
the  true  "circulating  medium  of  commerce." 

xin.  Floating  capital,  by  the  facilities  afford- 
ed by  modern  banking,  and  the  expedients  of 
merchants,  abolishes  barter,  or  the  exchange  of 
commodities  in  specified  or  measured  quantities. 
It  is  therefore  incorrect  and  illogical  to  say  that 
money,  or  capital,  "  facilitate  exchanges."  They 
simply  render  exchanges  unnecessary,  by  facili- 
tating the  distribution  of  the  products  of  labor 
from  producers  to  consumers.  The  idea  of  an 
exchange  of  commodities  is  the  father  of  much 
bad  logic  in  economic  science. 

This  method  of  eliminating  what  is  clearly  er- 
roneous, or  is  unsupported  by  proot  of  any  kind, 
or  in  other  words,  what  rests  on  nothing  but 
assertion,  from  what  is  self-evident,  or  has  been 
proved  by  logical  deduction,  or  induction,  to  be 
fundamental,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  is  new  in  eco- 
nomic science,  and  some  friends  in  England, 
whose  opinions  I  value,  have  paid  me  the  com- 
pliment to  say  so. 

On  the  appearance  of  a  portion  of  my  "  postu- 
lates and  principles"  in  the  Anglo  American 
Times,  Professor  Bonamy  Price,  of  Oxford,  in  a 
spirit  of  great  frankness  wrote  me  as  follows : 
"  So  many  thanks  for  your  letter  in  the  American 
"  Times.  It  is  exceedingly  good,  and  I  rejoice 
"over  it  much,  especially  the  Postulates  and 
"  Principles.  The  21st'  (10th  in  this  communica- 
"tion) 'is  capital.  I  had  the  thought,  but  not 
"  definitely  and  vividly  expressed.  The  meaning 
'jumps  on  the  reader  and  masters  him,  and  it  is 
'  most  true."  * 

It  will  thus  be  seen,  1,  that  money,  metalic  and 
paper,  constitute  only  an  insignificant  propor- 
tion of  the  floating  capital  used  in  conducting 
the  business  of  the  country;  2,  that  the  pro- 
ducts of  labor,  themselves,  by  the  processes  of 
modern  banking  and  the  facilities  of  distribu- 
tion afforded  by  railways  and  steam  vessels  on 
the  ocean,  the  lakes  and  the  rivers,  possess  an 
inherent  power  in  proportion  to  tJieir  market 
value,  to  circulate  and  distribute  themselves, 
with  the  use  of  only  a  small  supply  of  money 
and  a  greater  or  lesser  amount  of  realized  capi- 
tal from  profits  and  savings;  3,  that  the  most  im- 
portant function  performed  by  money  is  that 
which  it  exercises  in  its  character  as  a  tool  to 
measure  values  and  mete  out  capital  between 
ender  and  borrower  and  dealers  in  general,  and 
to  adjust  the  wages  of  labor ;  and  4,  that  its 
market  value  depends  on  the  market  value  of 
the  material  of  which  it  is  fabricated,  or,  if 
paper,  on  what  it  rests  for  security,  and  that  all 


73 


market  values  are  regulated  by  the  great  natu- 
ral law  of  supply  and  demand. 

Money,  therefore,  b«iug  In  its  important  of- 
fice of  a  tool,  the  general  measure,  or  standard, 
by  comparison  with  which  the  ratio  of  all  val- 
ues are  ascertained,  just  as  a  yard  stick  meas- 
ures cloth,  it  follows  that  only  a  limited  supply 
of  such  tools  is  needed  to  effect  the  ends  for 
which  money  is  used,  and,  as  a  general  rule, 
none  but  misers,  who  are  the  drones  of  society, 
ever  desire  to  possess  themselves  of,  or  to  lock 
up  this  very  costly  tool,  in  unnecessary  quanti- 
ties. It  also  follows  that,  like  the  measures  of 
length  and  capacity,  the  measure  of  value 
should  be  made  of  a  material,  the  standard  of 
which  is  least  variable.  In  other  words  it  is 
most  obvious  that  the  tool,  money,  should  be 
made  of  the  very  best  materials  that  human 
genius  and  experience  can  invent.  I  think  I  may 
now  say,  without  any  one  who  has  carefully 
weighed  the  propositions  and  deductions  I  have 
laid  down,  denying  the  final  inference,  that 
gold  is  the  best  of  all  materials  lor  a  general 
standard  of  value.  It  is  convenient  for  coinage 
and  fluctuates  the  least  of  any  known  metal, 
and  hence  is  the  best  fitted  for  all  the  uses  of 
money,  and  as  a  regulator  of  paper  currency. 

On  the  subject  of  paper  money,  about  which 
so  much  is  being  said  and  written,  I  must  now 
say  something,  and  I  shall  not  philosophise 
much  on  its  principles,  but  come  straight  to  the 
facts  as  they  are  at  present  under  debate  before 
the  whole  people.  Paper  money  being,  like 
metalic,  on  which  it  rests  for  its  value,  an  in- 
dustrial tool,  or  implement,  is  governed  in  all 
respects  by  the  same  principles  that  govern  the 
latter.  The  only  really  important  question,  in- 
volved in  the  determination  of  this  issue,  is, 
who  shall  have  the  advantage  of  it,  the  nation  or 
the  national  banks  ?  This  will  appear  the  cor- 
rect view  to  take  of  it  when  we  analyze  the 
law.  As  that  now  stands  there  are  two  kinds 
ol  paper  money  in  circulation,  for  both  of 
which  the  credit  of  the  nation  is  fully  pledged. 
One  of  these  consists  of  legal  tender  notes, 
popularly  known  as  "  Greenbacks,"  the  other, 
national  currency  notes,  loaned  by  the  Govern- 
ment to  private  trading  companies,  known  as 
National  Banks,  at  the  almost  nominal  ratio  of 
one  per  cent,  per  annum,  for  which  the  United 
States  Treasurer  holds,  Government  securities 
as  indemnity  against  loss.  This  loaning  of  the 
public  credit  to  companies  of  private  trades  in 
capital  and  credits,  seems  to  me  to  be  a  gross 
violation  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  of  sound  principles  of  econ- 
omic science.  In  case  of  inter-state  railways, 
the  clause  in  the  organic  law  which  authorizes 
Congress  to  provide  "  post  roads"  has  been  con- 
strued, on  doubtful  authority,  as  a  warrant  tor 
lending  the  railway  companies,  building  such 
'*  roads,"  the  national  credit ;  but  no  such  pre- 
text is  set  up  for  the  vast  loans  made  to  bank- 
ing corporations.  I  submit  the  point  for  the 
consideration  of  the  National  Agricultural 
Congress,  and  as  one  demanding  the  attention 
of  the  public  at  large.  The  right  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  issue  Treasury  notes  and  other  se- 
curities for  national  purposes,  is  unquestioned. 


but  the  distinction  between  such  a  policy  and 
the  lending  to  a  single  class,  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  others,  is  clear ;  and  what  makes  the  act 
itself  appear  more  conspicuously  wrong  and 
illegal,  is,  that  such  loans  are  made  at  rates  far 
below  the  market  value  of  the  National  capi- 
tal, which  these  public  credits  represent. 

Perhaps,  the  acts  of  congress,  under  which 
this  great  and  manifest  wrong  to  society  at 
large,  is  perpetrated,  might  receive  some  iusti- 
fication,  if  it  could  be  demonstrably  shown 
that  the  Treasury  notes  when  loaned  to,  and 
issued  by  the  banks,  were  improvised  into  bet- 
ter tools  than  the  legal  tender  Treasury  notes. 
But  here  again  the  fact  is  obviously  the  reverse. 
The  legal  tenders,  from  the  circumstance  that 
payment  or  tender  by  them  extinguishes  debt, 
while  those  loaned  the  banks  may  be  refused  by  a 
creditor  proves  the  legal  tenders  to  be  the  best 
tools.  View  the  matter  as  you  will,  there  seems 
to  be  no  justification  either  in  principle,  or 
practice  for  such  a  use  of  the  National  re- 
sources, and  if  it  shall  be  found,  that  these 
loans  of  the  public  credit,  to  trading  corpora- 
tions, are,  in  addition,  illegal,  then  the  sooner 
some  well  digested  system  for  providing  the 
public  with  a  supply  of  paper  money,  regulated 
by  the  national  laws,  which  require  it  to  be  con- 
vertible on  demand  into  gold,  the  better  for  the 
public  interests.  The  long  continued  agitation 
of  this  question  is  injudicious  as  well  as  injuri- 
ous, and  should  be  brought  to  an  end  by  the  ac- 
tion of  the  people  through  the  ballot  boxes  as 
speedily  as  possible. 

Apropos  to  this  subject  is  the  question  of 
having  a  double  standard  of  values,  or  of  mak- 
ing both  gold  and  silver  coins  legal  tender. 
Scientifically  that  question  is  easily  solved.  No 
government  nor  all  the  governments  in  the 
world  by  treaty  or  otherwise,  can  establish  a 
permanent  ratio  of  value  between  any  two  pro- 
ducts of  labor.  It  is  an  axiom,  of  political 
economy  that  the  value  of  commodities  in  the 
market  of  the  world  will,  in  the  long  run,  in 
spite  of  legislation  and  treaties,  be  determined 
by  the  law  of  supply  and  demand  or  by  the 
number  of  producers  and  amount  of  ma- 
chinery and  capital,  combined  with  the  facili- 
ties for  bringing  them  to  market,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  the  number  of  competing  buyers  for 
consumation  in  the  markets  of  the  world,  on 
the  other.  It,  therefore,  follows,  that  one  metal 
should  be  selected  as  a  standard  of  value,  and 
gold  being  the  fittest  for  coinage  and  handling, 
and  the  least  bulky,  and  least  liable  to  fluctua- 
tions, commends  itself  as  the  proper  one  to 
make  an  exclusive  standard,  silver  or  paper 
may  be  used  for  small  change,  or  for  what  is 
called  "  token  money"  with  nickel  or  copper, 
for  still  smaller  change.  With  one  dollar  or 
even  fifty  cent  notes,  which  I  prefer  to  silver, 
there  need  be  no  difficulty  or  inconvenience 
to  the  public,  in  respect  to  the  use  of  small 
coins  of  silver,  nickel  and  copper,  to  be  circu- 
lated as  token  money,  and  for  small  change,  in 
such  quantities  as  the  wants  of  the  public  indi- 
cate. 

I  have  given  much  thought  to  this  most  im- 
portant question  and  have  endeavored  to  sub- 
mit a  condensed  view  of  the  natural  principles 
on  which  currency  or  money  rests,  and  I  feel 
assured  that  all  who  sufficiently  value  a  sound 
system,  founded  on  public  rights,  and  justice  to 
all  classes,  will  cut  loose  from  party  affiliations 
and  traditions,  and  will  cast  their  votes  for  men 
who  stand  pledged  to  sustain  those  principles  in 
the  National  Legislature.  When  it  is  considered 
how  many  of  your  public  men,  from  the  Presi- 
dent down  to  the  annually  elected  assembly- 
man, have  prostituted  the  trust  reposed  in  them 
by  the  people,  to  the  shrine  of  mammon,  we 
must  all  feel  that  "eternal  vigilance  is  the  price 
of  liberty."  H.  BOWLBY  WILLSON. 

NEW  YORK,  Aug.  24, 1876.       19  West  46th  St. 


Addresses  of  Welcome,  A.  L.  Kennedy 6 

Burnet  Landreth 7 

W.C.Flagg 9,1* 

Joseph  Harris  9,42 

Geo.E.  Morrow 9,19 

E.  L.  Startevant 9, 30 

J.K.  Dodge 9,21 

Thos.  P.Janes 9,25 

L.  P.  Allen 10,  42 

X.  A.  Willard 10,56 

Alex.  Delnaar 11, 

Thomas  Clairborne 11, 62 

A.S.Welch 11,38 

N .  S.  Townshend 11,  67 

Agricultural  Congress,  Objects  and  Work 9, 19 

Education 11, 38, 67 

Organizations,  Sketch  of 4 

Keform 9,25 

Statistics 9, 12,  21 

Agriculture,  American 9,14,42 

Secretary  of 

Southern 11.  62 

Alabama,  Delegates  from 9 

Allen,  L.  F.,  Address 10,42 

American  Agricultural  Literature 9,  30 

Agriculture,  Prospect  of 9, 42 

Retrospect  of ...9, 14 

Dairying 10.  56 

Ass,  the 51 

Bee.the 55 

California,  Delegates 9 

Cattle 51 

Clairborne,  Thomas,  Address 11,  62 

Committees  on  Credentials 9 

'  Nominations 10, 11 

Resolutions 9, 12 

Standing  for  1877 3 

Dairying,  American 10,  56 

Delaware,  Delegates  from 9 

Delegate* 9 

Delmar,  Alex.  Address . .  .11 

Denmark,  Delegates  from 10 

District  of  Columbia,  Delegates 9 

Dodge,  J. B.  Address 9,21 

Farms  for  Reformatories 13 

Flagg,  W.  C.  Address 9,14 

France,  Delegates  from 10 

Georgia,  Delegates  from 9 

Grain  Crop 11 

Harris,  Joseph,  Address 9,  42 

Historical  Sketch  of  Agricultural  Organizations 4 

Horses 48 


Illinois,  Delegates '. 9 

Indiana,  Delegates 10 

Iowa,  Delegates 10 

Janes,  Thomas  P.  Address 9,  25 

Kennedy,  A.  L.  Address 6 

Resolutions 12, 13 

Kentucky,  Delegat  -s 10 

Maryland,  Delegates 10 

Massachusetts,  Delegates 10 

Members 3,13 

Honorary 12 

Mi  unesota,  Delegates 10 

Missouri,  Delegates 10 

Money  as  an  Industrial  Tool 11, 71 

Morrow,  George  B.  Address 9, 19 

Mule,  the 51 

New  Hampshire,  Belegates 10 

New  Jersey,  Delegates 10 

New  York,  Delegates 10 

Nominations,  Committee  on 10, 11 

Officers  1877 2 

Ohio,  Delegates 10 

Oregon,  Delegates 10 

Pennsylvania,  Delegates  10 

Philadelphians,  Thanks  to 13 

Portugal,  Delegates  from 10 

Poultry 54 

Proceedings 6 

Publishing 11 

Resolutions,  Committee  on 9, 12 

of  B.A.Martin 9,12 

Horace  J .  Smith 9 

A.L.Kennedy 11,12,13 

C.  V.  Riley 11, 12 

W.C.Flagg 12 

W.J.  Davie 13 

G.  E.  Morrow 13 

Rocky  Mountain  Locust 12 

Secretary,  Expenses  of 11 

Thanks  to 13 

Sheep 53 

Special  Committee 3 

Standing  Committees 3 

Sturtevant,  B.  L.  Address 9, 30 

Swine 54 

Tennessee,  Delegates 11 

Townshend.  N.  8.  Address 11,67 

Virginia,  Delegates 10 

Weights  and  Measures  Committee 3 

Resolutions 12 

Welch,  A.  S.  Address 10,56 

Willard,  X.  A.  Address 10,  56 


MEETING  OF  1877. 


The  National  Agricultural  Congress  will  meet  at  the  Grand  Pacific  Hotel  in  the 
City  of  Chicago,  September  25—27, 1877. 

A  general  representation  of  all  persons  and  organizations  interested  in  Agricult- 
ural progress  is  invited,  and  samples  of  Agricultural  products  solicited  from  all 
parts  of  the  United  States.  Addresses  and  reports  from  Agriculturists  of  national 
reputation  and  from  special  scientists  are  expected ;  and  these  will  discuss  the 
leading  questions  affecting  Agriculture  in  the  United  States. 


Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 

Syracuse,  N.  V. 
PAT.  JAN.  21.  1908 


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